


Crimson Butterflies

by ParadiseAvenger



Category: Ghost Hunt
Genre: F/M, Fatal Frame 2, Mild Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-12
Updated: 2013-03-12
Packaged: 2017-12-05 02:52:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 47,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/718029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParadiseAvenger/pseuds/ParadiseAvenger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naru stepped forward towards the torii gate, his eyes on something no one could see. "The Ritual..." He walked towards the gate, passing Ayako without a word even as she called out to him. "The twins who will become the sacrifice have returned!" NaruXMai.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: The Case

SPOILERS for Mai’s Dream Naru aka Gene.

Since Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is one of my favorite video games and it deals with twins (and what are Naru and Gene, class?) I just couldn’t resist. This ought to be fun and spooky! Shall I try my hand at the horror genre? I’m going to try to keep all the endless amounts of Fatal Frame ghosts and characters out of it. I only plan on using the location, Sae, and Yae. But I love Mio, Mayu, and Itsuki so much that they’ll probably worm their way in there. 

But I don’t consider it a crossover because it’s mainly about the Ghost Hunt characters and not so much about the Fatal Frame characters. The Fatal Frame backdrop is just epically spooky. (If that bumps someone, let me know and I’ll change the category to crossover.) 

**NOTE:** If you’ve never played Fatal Frame, there’s no need to go reading up on it. I’m going to explain the plot and the ghosts as I go along with the way they’re added into the story. They may as well be like original characters. 

So, if you like Ghost Hunt, read on!

**May 21, Night**

Taniyama Mai returned to her senses suddenly and sharply. She had been sleeping in her bed after coming home from work at Shibuya Psychic Research, she was certain of that. Yet… she was standing in a dark forest, alone. The air was cool and the glimpses of the sky she could see peering through the canopy was pitch-black. It was night, deep dark night. Leaves and twigs crunched under Mai’s feet as she followed the path through the forest. 

_“Didn’t we always promise each other… that we would be together?”_

There was distant flame-like glow through the trees, like a small village was hidden away in the dense forest. Mai continued walking, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. She felt short of breath, as if she had been running, and cold with a sense of loss. She reached a crooked red torii gate (1) and hesitated, staring up at it. Why did she feel that if she crossed beneath it she would never be able to come back? She took a step forward, but caught a glint of crimson light from the corner of her eye.

_“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”_

Mai turned her gaze away from the fluttering crimson shape. There was a young woman in a white kimono standing at just inside the crimson torii gate, her head bowed, her arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders. She was crying, her voice plagued with agony and sorrow. She sounded as if she had lost everything that was important to her. Mai took a step closer, hoping to get a look at the young woman’s face or even speak to her, but the small blood-colored light returned. 

It was a butterfly— _a crimson butterfly._

Mai followed the flying insect with her eyes, watching it flit off into the dark forest until it came to rest on a small knee-high stone statue of the Twin Shrine Maidens holding hands. The butterfly took flight again, fluttering towards the distant glow through the trees where it vanished among the flame-colored light. Mai turned back to look at the torii gate and the woman in the white kimono, but the young woman was gone. Only the twisted warped shape of the crimson gate remained.

“Hello?” Mai called, her voice was soft in the silence. Then, a maelstrom of voices and images assaulted her, lashing and whirling through her mind and heart. They tore her breath away, chilled her blood, and swallowed her whole.

_“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”_

_The girl in the white kimono, standing at the torii gate, crying…_

_“The Crimson Sacrifice!"_

_A Veiled Priest in black tearing off his veil in time to see something rise from Hell…_

_“Kill me!”_

_Hands closing around a thin throat, pale face gazing up at her…_

_“Don’t kill me!”_

_Two young girls standing together, holding hands…_

_“Everyone… died.”_

_There was a red torii gate in darkness, a crimson rope hanging from it…_

_“I was killed… by the priests…”_

_There were crimson butterflies everywhere, filling the sky…_

Mai screamed and the sound woke her harshly, echoing against the walls of her bedroom. She was in her own bed, tangled in the sheets. She was panting for breath, her skin cold with sweat and she couldn’t get in a deep enough breath to sustain her lungs. She clutched the sheets to her heaving chest and glanced out the window at the dark night beyond the glass. “What was… that?” she whispered, but she wasn’t certain she wanted to know.

**The Next Day, Noon**

The case came in on Mai’s day off so she never had a chance to tell Naru about her dream. 

People in the remote village of Kaman kept reporting the young woman in a white kimono standing at a crooked torii gate in the middle of the mountain forest, sobbing. She never hurt anyone. She wasn’t a dangerous spirit, but no one knew who she was or why she was just standing there, crying and apologizing. 

But the entire forest was due to be swallowed up by a lake once the Minakami Dam was built at the end of the summer and the people living nearby in the village of Kaman just wanted her spirit to rest in peace before she was buried forever beneath the water. They didn’t know what else to do for her. They had no idea who she was, after all. 

It was rumored that she might have been a ghost from the village that had vanished over a hundred years ago in the forest, but no one knew for certain. In fact, no one could even find records of the village’s existence save urban legends, ghost stories, and the single torii gate where the young woman in white cried.

The only strange thing about the forest was that people disappeared from the area of the crooked torii gate with some frequency. Occasionally, someone who had been missing for nearly a week would return, stumbling through Kaman Village with snow white hair. It was strange, but no bodies were ever recovered from the forest. Something unexplainable was going on in the forest in the region of the gate.

Even so, it was supposed to be a simple exorcism.

Shibuya Kazuya, also known as Naru the Narcissist, wasn’t going to take the case originally, even though the mayor of the small rural town of Kaman nearly begged him. Takigawa Houshou arrived at lunch time to see Mai, but had forgotten that it was Mai’s day off, just in time to catch the tail end of the case and the mayor’s pathetic begging.

“Ne, Naru-chan,” the monk said as he sat down on the couch across from Naru and adjacent to the mayor. “I’ve heard about that place.”

Naru sighed heavily. “Everyone has, Bou-san. It’s the same legend of the Sugisawa Village. (2) The legend says that one man massacred the entire village before killing himself, but no records of this ever happening exists. The area that was once Sugisawa Village has been incorporated into another village and all traces of it erased.”

The mayor of Kaman gasped.

Bou-san didn’t look all that surprised. Naru seemed to always know everything.

“The legend also bears resemblance to the Tsuyama Massacre,” Naru continued, “which took place May twentieth and twenty-first in 1938. (3) Mutsuo Toi, at age twenty-one after being diagnosed with tuberculosis, cut the electricity to his village of Kaio, leaving the community in total darkness. He then killed at least thirty people in the village, over half of the small population, before committing suicide at dawn.”

Naru meet the mayor’s eyes first and then Bou-san’s.

“Rumors like this are not uncommon,” he said firmly. “I will not take this case.”

Bou-san’s lips pulled in a smile. Naru was such a narcissistic know-it-all, but for once the monk knew something the teenager didn’t. “I’ve heard that, too, Naru, but I think there’s something about this place that bears mentioning.”

Naru glared at him. “What?”

“The twins,” Bou-san said.

Naru’s glacial eyes widened just a fraction. “What?”

Lin’s fingers froze over his keyboard. The loss of the endless tap-tap-tap of the keys in the silence of the SPR office was unnerving, but it only lasted a moment before Lin returned to his typing. But the Chinese man’s reaction puzzled the monk. Normally, Lin was as emotionless and calm as a butterfly, but for him to completely stop his endless typing… What was it about twins that had given him (and Naru) such a start?

“You should tell him,” Bou-san said to the mayor. “Surely you know. I heard about it when I was still on Mount Kouya.”

The mayor hesitated. “Well…”

Naru was getting impatient. “What is it?”

“We had a single set of twins born in Kaman,” the mayor said softly. “When they were in their teens, they went into the forest and disappeared. For days we searched for them without ever finding a trace of what had happened to them. Then, one day, one of the twins just walked back into the village. His hair had turned snow-white and he had a red mark like a butterfly on his throat. No trace of the other twin was ever found and the one who returned wouldn’t speak of what had happened. A few days after his return, he committed suicide.”

Naru glanced at the monk, suspicious. “Has anything else strange involving twins happened?”

The mayor dabbed at his sweaty forehead with his sleeve. “I’m not sure. I just know what happens in Kaman.”

Naru chewed the inside of his cheek, thinking a moment. Then, he glanced at Bou-san and then back to the mayor before glancing at Lin’s back. The man had resumed his typing and was not paying attention to anything else. “Alright,” Naru said finally. “We’ll take the case.”

**X X X**

(1) A torii gate is a red Shinto Shrine gate for those of you that don’t know.

(2) It is rumored that the legend of the Sugisawa Village was the inspiration for Fatal Frame 2.

(3) The Tsuyama Massacre did actually take place just as I described it. Creepy, right?

Please, check out my first ORIGINAL NOVEL! **The Breaking of Poisonwood by Paradise Avenger.** (Summary: People were dead. When Skye Davis bought me at a slave auction as a birthday present for his brother, I had no idea what my new life was going to be like, but I had never expected this. It all started when Venus de Luna was killed and I was to take her place, to become the new savior… Then, bad things happened and some people died. In the heart of the earth, we discovered the ancient being that Frank Davis had found and created and used to his advantage. The Poisonwood—)

Questions, comments, concerns?


	2. All God's Village?

Sorry for the screw up in the last chapter. Somehow, the first chapter of my other story for Kingdom Hearts, “We’re Circus People,” got posted instead of the first chapter for “Crimson Butterflies.” Thank goodness someone pointed it out to me pretty quickly!

**Day One, Late Morning**

Three days later—and Naru had, strangely, gathered the entire SPR team even though this was supposed to be a simple case—they were trudging through the forest to the location of the crooked torii gate. Since it was out in the middle of nowhere, they weren’t bringing any gear, no monitors or cameras or microphones or thermal imagers. Everyone carried a backpack with clothing, water, and food in it, enough to last overnight in case something happened (but Naru intended for this case to last only a day). In the case of Houshou, John, and Ayako, they also carried the tools of their exorcismal trade. (Lin had been unable to part with his laptop and was carrying that in a bag over his shoulder as well.)

“This is it,” Naru said, stopping in front of the crooked red torii gate.

Panting, Matsuzaki Ayako stopped beside him. She put her neatly-manicured hand on his shoulder, leaned on him heavily, and gasped for breath. The twenty-three-year-old self-proclaimed Shinto miko was sweaty and unhappy, but for once she didn’t complain. She scraped some auburn-ruby hair off the back of her neck with a clip, blinked up at the torii gate, and murmured, “It’s in really bad shape.” She turned to look at their resident medium. “Do you sense anything?”

Hara Masako pressed a delicate kimono sleeve to her mouth, though Mai thought it was more a sly way to fan herself rather than to focus her energies. She was probably wishing she had worn some practical Western clothing like Mai rather than her usual kimono. The dark-haired teen looked up at the crooked shrine gate, her dark blue-grey eyes mysterious. “I… do,” she murmured. “But it’s very faint. All I feel is regret and sadness, loneliness, no resentment or anger.”

John Brown clambered up beside Naru and Ayako. He was a sweet Australian exorcist and priest. He was always ready to help and kinder than anyone Mai had ever met. If she ever needed someone to go to the store to buy tampons for her, she would go to John first. Now, John grasped Masako’s small white hand and helped her up the steep path to the base of the gate. Then, he brushed his blonde hair out of his face and looked up at the gate. “It looks like it’s been here a long time,” he remarked.

Then, John helped Mori Madoka up over a large rock, smiling politely. The magenta-haired woman smiled gratefully at the priest, but still couldn’t clamber up over the large stone. Lin grasped her other hand and together, the two guys helped her up beside the rest of them. “Thanks,” she panted. Mai wasn’t sure why Naru had insisted both Madoka and Yasuhara come with them. Usually, the pair only researched cases for them and stayed out of harm’s way.

Houshou Takigawa, called Bou-san by his team members, set down his backpack with a sigh. “Ooh, my back,” he whined. “I’m too old for this.” Then, he pushed his sandy-blonde hair out of his eyes, huffed and puffed for breath a moment, and then turned to Mai. “Do you sense anything, jou-chan?” Then, he bent at the waist, trying to crack his aching back, and whining more than Ayako normally did. Finally, he managed to pop his back and sighed happily. “Ah!”

“You’re not that old,” Osamu Yasuhara said and slapped Bou-san hard on the back. The old man spent a minute choking and hacking while Yasuhara adjusted his glasses farther up on his nose and stared at the gate as if trying to glean something from it. Yasuhara was only a high school student efficient at researching and unafraid of ghosts, so no one held their breath. He finally turned away from the gate. “Get it together, dude,” he said to Bou-san and then turned to Mai, “Well, Mai, are you getting anything?”

Mai flushed and looked up at the torii gate. 

Honestly, it just looked like a crooked red gate in need of paint to her. She didn’t sense anything, not even the remnants of what she had dreamed three days ago about the location. “No,” she said. She felt Naru’s eyes on her and flushed. Did he know that she had had a dream about this gate and the case but hadn’t told him yet? The case was supposed to be simple and she didn’t want to freak anyone out. “It just looks like an old torii gate to me.”

“That’s because Mai is only useful when she’s sleeping,” Masako huffed, hiding her mouth with the sleeve of her kimono. She was probably grinning.

“What was that?!” Mai shouted at the psychic medium.

Bou-san patted Mai’s shoulder. “There, there.”

“This is clearly the work of an earth spirit,” Ayako said. “I’ll exorcise it right away.”

Bou-san sighed. “Great, what’ll this be? Your eighth failure?”

“I haven’t even started yet!” Ayako shouted at him.

“Now, now,” John put in gingerly, trying to mediate as he usually did.

Lin helped Madoka and Masako back down the steep incline. Yasuhara and Bou-san each grasped on of Mai’s hands and helped her down as well. John clambered down after them, carrying Ayako’s bag once she had taken what she needed from it. Ayako and Naru remained standing at the base of the torii gate.

“Naru?” Lin called.

The black-clad youth remained standing there, staring past the gate as if he saw something in the dark shadows of the forest. Despite how loud Lin’s voice was, Naru acted as if he hadn’t heard the Chinese man call him. He remained standing there, staring past the crooked torii gate.

“Naru?” Ayako asked and gingerly touched his shoulder.

He jolted, turned to look at her, and snapped, “What?”

“I was… going to start if you would go stand with the others,” she said.

He blinked, turned, and seemed incredibly surprised to see them all standing there—watching him. “Right,” he said.

Lin offered his hand to Naru to help him down, but Naru ignored him.

The eight of them stood there, watching Ayako as she went through the motions of cleansing the area surrounding the gate. She finished after a few minutes and Bou-san wrinkled up his nose. He didn’t look like he believed Ayako had succeeded. In fact, no one did.

Masako pressed her kimono sleeve to her mouth. “The spirit is still present,” she said plainly.

“Hear that?” Bou-san said. “You failed again.”

“Shut up!” Ayako shouted at him.

“Alright, I’ll go next,” Bou-san said.

“Wait.The spirit is—" Masako broke in. “—Naru!”

The black-clad youth stepped forward towards the gate, his eyes focused on something none of them could see. He walked towards the gate, passing Ayako without a word even as she called out to him in worry. She grasped his shoulder, but he pulled away, continuing through the torii gate.

Mai felt dizzy, her entire world spinning wildly as if her personal piece of the world had broken loose and was rattling around. Her head throbbed with the voices from her dream and then was assaulted by the images of death and twins. She felt sick, doubling over to clutch at her stomach. Someone’s warm hand was on her back and someone’s voice was calling her name, but she couldn’t focus on anything other than the sickening sensation of suffocation. 

She was vaguely aware of Masako shouting, “Naru! Stop, don’t go!”

Someone’s cold hands had closed around her neck. Mai couldn’t breathe. 

The last thing she heard was Masako yell Naru’s name one more time, her voice echoing strangely against the roaring forest, before Mai’s entire world went black. Her body smashed into the ground hard and everything gave way. She plummeted into darkness, devoured by it, and was suffocated by it. This… this is what death feels like, she realized.

**…X…**

“Naru!” Masako shouted, her cry echoed by Lin. The Chinese man leaped up the steep incline, darted through the gate, and was hot on Naru’s heels. After a few yards though, he vanished in the darkness of the thick foliage along with Naru. Ayako raced after them, shouting both their names. 

Then, suddenly, Mai crumpled like a paper doll, her hands going to her throat.

“Mai!” Yasuhara and Bou-san shouted, each grabbing for her, but she slammed into the hard ground before either of them could catch her. Bou-san immediately knelt and gathered the young girl in his strong arms, hoisting her up. “Follow them!” they shouted.

John clambered up the incline, helping up Masako and Madoka. Yasuhara shoved Bou-san from behind and then John pulled him up the rest of the way. Within seconds, they darted through the torii gate after Naru, Lin, and Ayako. 

The forest swallowed them up greedily. 

From the corner of her eye, Masako saw a fluttering crimson butterfly.

Darkness descended.

**…X…**

The group rejoined each other at the top of a large hill. At the center of the area was a stone altar in the center of sharp claw-like pillars and the entire frightening edifice was surrounded by sacred ropes, the paper streamers fluttering in the cool breeze. Ayako was leaning on one of the pillars, breathing hard. Naru was standing just past it and in his black clothing, he was swallowed up by the sudden darkness of night that had descended on them. Cautiously, Lin was approaching him.

“Naru?” the Chinese man called gingerly. He had no idea what had set his young ward off, but he was worried. “Naru?”

Masako pressed her hand to her mouth. “W-what is this feeling?” she whispered, taking several steps back.

John steadied her with one hand on her back. “Masako?” he murmured.

Her blue eyes were wide and shocked. “This feeling is…” Then, she slid to her knees. “I… I feel as if I cannot breathe.”

“Mai clutched her throat just before she passed out, too,” Yasuhara whispered.

Bou-san bit his lip, glancing at Madoka from the corner of his eyes. The woman’s eyes were glued to Naru and Lin, waiting without breathing to see what Naru would do now. From the right, a faintly glowing crimson butterfly flit across the open air until it neared Naru’s form.

“Naru!” Lin shouted in warning.

The black-clad youth turned, his pale skin gleaming in the darkness, his eyes like deep pits. As he moved, a mass of the crimson butterflies took flight from him as if coming from inside his body and danced away into the darkness as one. It was the most eerie sight, beautiful but also haunting. 

Masako gasped. “Twins…” she whispered, watching the butterflies flutter away. “What is this place?” 

“All God’s Village,” Naru whispered to them. Then, he blinked as if waking from a deep sleep. “What happened?” he asked.

In Bou-san’s arms, Mai groaned and shifted, coming back to wakefulness. In her sleepy state, she whispered the same thing Naru had, “All God’s Village.”

“Mai? Are you feeling alright?” Yasuhara asked her.

She nodded, pressing a hand to her forehead. “I passed out, didn’t I?”

Bou-san nodded. “Did you dream?”

She shook her head. “I just felt this horrible feeling of… suffocation. I couldn’t breathe and someone’s hands were around my throat.”

“Masako felt the same thing,” John murmured.

A moment of silence stretched between the nine friends as they each took in their surroundings. Behind them was the crooked torii gate, as if they hadn’t moved more than just to the other side of it, but they all felt as if miles had passed between them and the gate. From the crest of the hill, an entire village was laid out beneath them—a path leading down into it to the right. It was in nearly perfect condition, not the kind of village one would expect to have been moldering away for over a hundred years like the legend said. To the left, there was a creaking wooden bridge and a small graveyard beyond. Beyond that, they could see a massive camphor tree towering over everything an casting deep shade. That was all they could tell in the darkness.

Then, Yasuhara voiced what they were all thinking but didn’t want to say. “I have a bad feeling about this,” he whispered.

Ayako nodded, her pretty face paler than parchment.

“We should leave,” Lin said.

Madoka nodded. “I agree.”

Together, they rounded up the group and steered them back towards the crooked torii gate, but there was no path on the other side. The dense black woods had formed like a wall on the other side of the gate. Lin tried to push his way through, but without a machete or something, there was no way they would be able to get back the way they had come.

“The path is gone,” Masako whispered, “as if it never was.”

“That can’t be,” Ayako protested. “We just came through there.”

“She’s right,” Lin said, wiping his hands on his slacks. “It’s gone.”

“What are we going to do now?” Madoka voiced. 

“We only have one choice,” Naru put in. His voice was so strong and assured that everyone immediately turned to face him eagerly, hoping he had some solution to this inescapable situation. Sadly, his only suggestion was, “We’ll have to go into the village and look for another way out.”

Mai’s heart raced. “No,” she whispered, but she wasn’t sure if she said it out loud because no one seemed to notice. “No…”

**X X X**

Questions, comments, concerns? 

Review!


	3. Possession and a Bloody White Kimono

Thank you to Ariana Taniyama for reviewing! Everyone else, I expect you to be better reviewers since I write long chapters and post with incredible frequency! I deserve it… don’t I?

**Day One, Night**

Bou-san’s watch read 11:47 a.m., but the sky was pitch-black as if night had fallen. Overhead, the stars even glimmered faintly. The crescent moon was hanging in the sky like a half-realized smile, dim so that no light filtered through the overhead canopy. As if the lost village was still inhabited, tall torches cast flickering firelight across the eerie clawed altar area. The teams’ shadows were spread across the ground, twisted into the shapes of demons by the light.

“I don’t understand,” Ayako said, looking from Bou-san’s watch to the darkened sky. “It should be daytime.”

“How can this be?” Mai asked, looking up as well. “Could the watch be broken?”

Bou-san pulled his wrist away. “Don’t go blaming my watch because the world is screwy,” he said to them. “This is a brand new watch.”

“Maybe it’s not the watch,” Yasuhara said, pressing his fingers to his mouth thoughtfully and then adjusting his glasses farther up on the bridge of his nose. “Maybe this area exists in a distortion of space-time. I mean, this village supposedly vanished and no trace of it can be found now, yet… here we are. Maybe it, you know, comes and goes.”

“You really think so?” Bou-san asked. He turned to Naru, who was looking down at the village from the top of the hill as if imprinting a cognitive map of it into his memory. “What do you think, Naru-bou?”

Naru rolled his shoulders, more to work a kink out of the muscles than to express a shrug. “It’s the best we have to go on right now, especially taking in the account of the disappearances in the area. If the village does exist in a warp of time-space, it would make sense why they could never find the bodies of the people who disappeared. Or that the twins in Kaman couldn’t be found, but then one just walked back on her own.”

“But,” Madoka put in, “if that’s the case, then how did we get here?”

“Who knows,” Naru said with a true shrug.

“Let’s get going,” Lin said and shouldered his backpack and laptop bag.

“Did we bring flashlights?” John asked.

“A few, but we should save the batteries so long as there’s moonlight,” Naru said. “We don’t know how long it might take us to get out of this and it’s nighttime when it shouldn’t be. We might be trapped within an endless night.” He turned to Masako. “Do you sense anything?”

The dark-haired medium put her kimono sleeve to her mouth, lifting her eyes to scan the surroundings. “It’s strange…” she murmured. “I do feel a lot of spirits, but they seem to be… trapped.”

“Trapped?” Bou-san repeated.

“I can’t really explain it,” she said with a small shake of her head. Her short dark hair feathered against her cheeks.

“How many spirits?” Naru asked Masako.

She bit her lip. “The entire village and there are a lot of others—probably the spirits of the people who disappeared in the area—but mostly, I sense the spirits of twins gathered in one area.”

Naru stood up a little straighter, squaring his shoulders. “Where?” 

“I can’t be sure. It seems like an… abyss. I feel as if it goes on forever, into the depths of the earth,” Masako tried to explain.

Naru nodded, thinking. “We should split up,” he said finally.

Bou-san’s eyes widened. “What? Why?”

“Because we need to do several things at once and we have a limited amount of time to work with. The food we brought is only enough to last us through tomorrow,” Naru explained. “Mai should sleep and try to see what she can find out about this location. Masako needs to search for the highest concentration of spirits so we can exorcise them. Lin and I are going to look for any information we can possibly find. The rest of you, I’m counting on you to protect each other.”

Naru might be a total narcissist and a complete jerk, Mai thought, but at least he was cautious and smart. She nodded even before she realized what she was doing, her lips curving with a faint smile. It was comforting to have Naru nearby in a situation like this, to watch over them and guide them.

Naru met her eyes and she almost felt him smile at her.

Mai’s cheeks flushed. 

“This is what we’re going to do,” he said. Naru turned back to the others. “Bou-san, I want you to stay here with Mai and Yasuhara. I’m counting on you to protect them. Mai, you sleep. Ayako, you and Masako walk the village and look for spirits but don’t enter any buildings under any circumstances. John, you go with them and exorcise any spirits you come across. Lin, Madoka, and I will go into the buildings. Let’s all meet back here in an hour.” 

Everyone nodded.

**…X…**

Masako was leading the way through the village with John and Ayako following her closely. Normally, the medium felt out of place in her old-fashioned kimono, but here she felt right at home. The village was so old-fashioned, untouched by time. 

So far, they had explored the perimeter of the village and it was much smaller than they originally expected. The graveyard proved to be a dead end, filled with only graves, and a steep tangle of roots at the base of the camphor tree. Walking around the base of the camphor tree, not without some difficulty, led them past a small shrine perched up on another high hill. The shrine was small and exquisite, but didn’t give Masako any impression so they passed it by. The village itself consisted of four large houses for the ruling families and countless small ones, a single small jailhouse, and a small stream flowing through the center with a small bridge to cross it. It was a very, very old village, that much was determined by the size and single shrine.

“Well, Masako?” Ayako asked.

Now, they were standing in front of a tall house whose front doors had been slashed and destroyed. There was even a rusted sickle embedded into the wood. What on earth had happened in this place? There was such an overwhelming sensation of blood and death, slaughter and pain, fear and darkness. Masako had never felt anything like it, not even when they had been in the bloodstained labyrinth of the Miyama mansion. Something truly horrible had happened in this place.

“I can’t explain it,” Masako murmured to Ayako, looking up at a bride that connected the house with the ruined doors to the one just across the street. Why on earth would they need a bridge to connect these two houses, especially when they were so close? She shook herself and said, “Let’s keep walking.”

The sound of Masako’s geta shoes tapping on the stepping stones was the only sound in the night. It was quiet, deathly quiet. The phrase ‘as silent as the grave’ had never seemed so appropriate as it did at this moment. There wasn’t even any wind and Ayako found herself inadvertently holding her breath.

Suddenly, just beneath the bridge, the medium stopped dead and put out her hand to stop the others behind her. “Wait,” Masako whispered, her voice was haunted. “I feel… the sensation of falling…”

“Falling?” Ayako asked. Her voice seemed so loud in the silence. 

John looked up at the bridge overhead curiously, wondering if someone could have fallen from there and that was what Masako was feeling, and his mouth ran dry. There was a spirit standing there in a pale grey kimono, her head titled obscenely to the right on her lolling broken neck. “Masako! Ayako!” John shouted, pointing to the bridge.

The two girls looked up as well. Masako sucked in a breath, her hands going to her mouth. Ayako’s eyes narrowed and she lifted her hand, prepared to shout the Nine Words at this spirit. Naru had charged her with the duty of protecting these two and she wasn’t going to let anything happen to them.

There was a horrible cracking noise and the woman’s neck slowly righted itself so that her head was even on her shoulders, her dark hair cascading beautifully over her shoulders and down her back. Then, a muffled sob escaped her and they all saw that her face was wet with tears. She glanced over her shoulder and a shriek of fear escaped her as if she saw something coming. Then, sobbing harder, she put her knee on the railing and lifted her body, poised to leap to her death. 

Masako opened her mouth to shout for the woman not to do it, but the sensations of fear and death assaulted her. Something far worse was waiting for this woman if she didn’t take her own life. A fate worse than any death she could commit to herself. It was better to take her own life.

_“The darkness is coming… The Repentance—!”_

Masako put her hands over her ears, but it did nothing to block the voice screaming through her head. The sound of a woman’s laughter filled her skull, pressing in, trying to take over and fill her up to the brim so that there was nothing left inside her body. The spirit wanted to possess Masako, but she fought back, pushing the spirit out of her mind and body. Howling, the spirit fled off into the night, leaving Masako with only a fleeting image of her.

_A woman in a white kimono, covered in blood… laughing…_

The woman on the bridge screamed, leaping to the stone ground below. 

“Look out!” John shouted. He wrapped his arm around Masako’s waist, pulling her from harm’s way, and Ayako dove for cover as well.

The woman’s body hit with a sickening crack, her neck breaking instantly. It should have been enough to kill her immediately, but she lay there for a moment in agony, small animalistic sounds of fear and pain escaping her broken mouth. Then, death took her and the place where she had fallen was empty of her broken body.

John pulled Masako to her feet, turning his blue eyes to the bridge above them. Some part of him expected the woman’s ghost to still be there, preparing to jump again—reliving the moment of her death over and over and over, endlessly—but the bridge between the houses was empty.

“What was that?” Ayako whispered, scrambling to her feet and joining Masako and John. Safety in numbers, she thought, we’ll be safe if we stay together.

Masako pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling nauseous with the scent of blood and the feeling of death clinging to her body. “That woman in white…” she whispered, holding John tightly for support. “She called us here, but why?”

**…X…**

Yasuhara sat down with his back against the torii gate, his legs folded comfortably in front of him, and the backpacks gathered against his right side. Mai was also sitting to his right, leaning against Yasuhara’s shoulder and the backpacks. Bou-san, after nervously pacing the top of the hill for a moment until the others vanished from sight, came to sit beside the two teenagers. Mai forced herself to relax, taking a few deep breaths and closing her eyes. If she could just relax, she could fall asleep. The sooner she got information, the closer they would be to escaping.

Yasuhara and Bou-san were whispering to each other, quietly, trying not to disturb her. 

She wished they would just be quiet, but she knew they were nervous. They had never faced a case like this before, not even when Naru had been possessed and the team was on its own. This time, they were in true danger—not even just from spirits, either. If they couldn’t find a way out of this place, they would run out of food and they would starve. As ghost hunters, death was always forefront in their minds since they dealt with the dead day in and day out, but now… the Reaper would be coming for them.

Mai took a deep breath, going for Zen and trying to center herself so she could relax and sleep, but it wasn’t really working.

“Do you really think Mai can sleep in a place like this?” Yasuhara was asking.

“Probably. She managed to sleep when we were in the Miyama house and contact Masako.”

“She can sleep anywhere, can’t she?”

Their voices seemed so distant, so soft, as if the wind was blowing them away. Was there even any wind on this hill? Silvery-white light was creeping in at the edges of Mai’s vision. Sleep was coming to her, finally, and it was so close. If she could just relax a little more, she would be able to sleep. 

If she could only sleep… 

Suddenly, her body slumped over sideways with a thump, rattling her. The chill of the ground began seeping into her side, into her entire body. The warmth of Yasuhara’s shoulder that she had been leaning on was gone, but she could still feel the packs pressed against her back. Maybe he had had to pee or something, she figured, and fought to keep herself in the border of sleep.

“Hey, where are you going?” Bou-san’s voice rang through her head. His voice was so loud, sharp. “Yasuhara! Get back here!” Then, Bou-san grabbed Mai’s shoulder and shook her awake.

“What?” She sat bolt upright, her heart suddenly pounding. 

Bou-san grabbed her hand, dragged her sleepy body to her feet, and then pulled her flush against his side. He hooked her close to his side in the crook of his elbow, pressing his hands together in order to invoke Acala. His voice was strong and powerful when he began his Tai-Mahou counter spell. “Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan…”

Mai came the rest of the way awake immediately, gasping in a breath of cold air. Why was it suddenly so cold?

“Bou-san,” she began.

A peel of hysterical laughter cut off her voice, slicing through the endless dark night. Mai’s head snapped up, her coffee-colored eyes immediately going to Yasuhara. He was standing just beside the clawed altar, his back pressed against one of the talon-like pillars of stones. The firelight cast his shadow across the ground, dark and gnarled, moving like something alive.

The moment her eyes fell on him, she realized that something was very wrong. 

Yasuhara was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt unbuttoned over a t-shirt, but now… he was somehow wearing a white kimono deeply stained with blood. And he didn’t look like himself either. His face was too thin and dainty and pretty, dark shoulder-length hair feathering against his throat and neck, mouth open in wild insane laughter. When Yasuhara moved, the image swirled with him, overlaying his body and his face until it was clear what had happened. 

The spirit of a young woman in a white bloodstained kimono had possessed Yasuhara and it didn’t look like she was planning on letting him go anytime soon.

Bou-san’s chant rose louder and stronger, the muscles in his arms tightening. Mai was pressed so close to Bou-san’s body that she could hardly breathe, but the air was too cold to breathe anyway. Her lungs felt frozen, the blood in her veins like ice, and she felt the kiss of death on her skin.

“Bou-san,” she whispered, her heart in her throat.

“It isn’t working,” he hissed under his breath between chanting.

“What do we do?” she asked him, digging her fingers into his forearm. “Bou-san?”

“I don’t know. We need John,” he whispered.

Mai clutched him. She could try the Nine Words, but she didn’t want to risk hurting Yasuhara.

The female spirit in the bloodstained white kimono threw her head back and laughed hysterically. Her insane laughter echoed through the darkness of the lost village, bouncing and reverberating off the distant trees until the sound of her laughing seemed to fill up the world.

Mai resisted the urge to put her hands over her ears, biting her lip. 

Bou-san raised his voice to chant over the sound of the insane woman’s laughter. 

Then, she fell suddenly silent, her facial expression as smooth and flat as that of a porcelain doll’s. The silence was eerie, deafening, after the endless peels of her insane laughter. Suddenly, without any warning, she began to melt into the ground, bringing Yasuhara’s body with her. 

“No!” Bou-san shouted. He released Mai and dove for Yasuhara, hoping to grab the kid’s hand and prevent him from vanishing. Who knew what would happen once he was gone from their sight. But the woman was already half-way into the ground and by the time Bou-san reached the place where Yasuhara had been standing against the altar, they were both already gone. “No!” he shouted again and beat his fists on the ground as if that would somehow bring the teenager back to them.

Mai’s clenched her hands together, her throat aching with tears. “No,” she whispered.

**X X X**

Questions, comments, concerns?

Review!


	4. The Osaka House and Sudo Miyako

This was originally part of the last chapter, but it was WAY too long so I broke it up.

**Day One, Endless Night**

Lin, Madoka, and Naru had gone down the path to the right of the hill where Bou-san, Mai, and Yasuhara were waiting. (Masako, Ayako, and John had walked with them until they reached the bottom of the sloping path. There, Masako led the others off into the village and Naru led his group into the first house they came across.) The house looked promising, small, and with a few lights burning inside. Naru opened the door and Madoka and Lin crowded in behind him.

There was a small black purse lying on the floor at their feet, embroidered with the name Sudo Miyako in white thread. Madoka bent to pick it up and rifled through the contents for anything useful. There were two newspaper articles about a missing geological surveyor named Makimura Masumi and a photo of a young couple that had been kissed with bright red lipstick along with the assorted flotsam that most women carried in their purses. 

“This belonged to a woman named Sudo Miyako,” Madoka said and handed the two articles and photograph to Naru.

He looked them both over, but didn’t immediately speak. “She must have also become trapped here,” he said finally. “We’ll operate under the assumption that she and this surveyor are both dead. This article is dated from several months ago.”

Madoka bit her lip. 

Naru was peering through the lattice to their right at a room beyond. It was a kimono room, several fabulous old kimonos were put up on stands and cast deep dark shadows across the floor. Just beyond them was a closet stacked with countless boxes. “Alright,” he said after a moment. “Let’s go in.”

“Should we wedge the door open?” Madoka suggested to the two young men. 

Naru shook his head. “If we do get trapped in here, Ayako’s group knows where we are,” he explained.

“But what if—?” Madoka cut herself off, but the words were already hanging in the air. What if something happened to Masako, Ayako, and John?

Naru chose to ignore the words hanging over their heads and pushed open the second door of the small mudroom that opened up into the main sections of the house. The house was old, Naru realized the moment they entered, older than he had even realized. The center of the room had a sunken fireplace and a raised wooden platform, but the rest of the floor was still dirt. Just how old was this place? How old was this entire village? How old and how strong were the spirits they were dealing with?

“Let’s be careful,” Naru said to Lin and Madoka. “We’ll split up, but no one leaves until we’re all together again, and don’t close any doors behind you. Got it?”

Madoka didn’t want to split up, but she understood why Naru had decided to do it this way. This house was small so they would be able to call to each other if something happened and they were short on time. Things had to be done as quickly and carefully as possible. She nodded, biting her lower lip.

Then, the trio of ghost hunters broke apart to explore the house. Naru followed the dirt-floor hallway directly in front of them, Lin went to the left and climbed the stairs to the second floor, and that left Madoka the few small rooms around the sunken fireplace. 

…

Madoka took a deep breath, tucked some mahogany-colored hair behind her ear, and stepped up onto the wooden platform surrounding the sunken fireplace. She had a flashlight, but the lanterns in the house were lit and she didn’t need to use it. It was best to save the batteries anyway, but she really wished for the extra light it would provide.  
She slid open the first door to her right and was relieved to find it empty of ghosts. The room was mostly empty save a single chest for storing clothes, a screen that divided the room in half, and a single futon with a floral blanket draped across it. On the other side of the screen, the futon had a body-shaped lump beneath the covers, as if someone was sleeping there. Madoka steeled herself and slipped around to screen to investigate the lump. 

It might be Sudo Miyako. Maybe she was still alive…

Hesitantly, she grabbed the blanket covering the futon and yanked it back. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but it wasn’t what she found. The bed was completely empty and flat. The only thing lying there was a small red notebook, nothing to cause a body-shaped lump. A shiver ran down Madoka’s spine. She quickly grabbed the notebook and fled the room, leaving the door open. If a ghost came slinking out, she wanted to see it coming.

She took a moment to flip through the notebook, but there were only eight or so entries, each taking up maybe a single page. The entire front half of the notebook had been ripped out, but Sudo Miyako’s name was written on the front cover. 

Madoka began to read.

_“I’ve heard rumors about this place before. After you pass the Twin Deities Statues, you cannot go back. A long time ago, a massacre occurred here on the day of a ceremony and the only survivor was a lone woman. I’ve heard that a woman’s insane laughter can be heard here and that this place continuously relives the night of its death.”_

_“Sometimes, I can sense someone passing by the window, he carries a torch and mutters things. In the distance, I can hear a sad ceremonial song being sung. These people are all frozen, repeating the day of their death over and over… How horrible. I couldn’t imagine being trapped here. Please, I don’t want to be trapped here.”_

_“Masumi, it’s me. It’s Miyako. If you find this, call out for me. I’ll be nearby. Together, we can leave this place. I know we can do anything if we’re together. And once we get out, we can get married. Wouldn’t that be wonderful, Masumi? Please, come and find me. I miss you…”_

_“Help! Help me! I want to get out! I can’t leave this place! Somebody, anybody, help me! I’m trapped in this village. I just want to leave. If anyone finds this, please, help me! —Sudo Miyako.”_ She must have intended to tear it out and leave it somewhere, Madoka figured, but it was still inside the journal. Had someone come to help her?

_“Sometimes, I hear an eerie singing coming from behind the wall where the Osaka family altar sits. It sounds as if it’s coming from deep below. But maybe, it’s just the wind. Unless… there really is something behind that wall. I’m going crazy. I need to get out of here.”_

_“How long have I been here? How long has this night lasted? I can’t take it anymore. The darkness is driving me crazy. I need to get out! I need to see Masumi!”_ She sounded so desperate and so afraid, her handwriting jagged, Madoka thought. Was that the fate that awaited them all?

_“I must be tired… If I even start to relax, I pass out. Even in a crazy place like that. The darkness… it’s seeping into my dreams. The slaughters, rivers of blood, fallen people, a woman in a bloodstained kimono, insane laughter, and twin sisters crying out ‘Don’t kill me!’ That woman’s laugh is seared into my mind. I don’t want to sleep anymore.”_

_“Masumi found my note. He was in the village. He’s gone to find a way out. When he comes back, we can leave together. If he comes back…”_ There were several blank pages after that. Then, on a single bloodied page, written lightly as if the person didn’t have any strength to write. _“He came…”_

That was it. 

That was all that was written.

Masako shuddered, tucked the journal under her arm, and turned her attention to the final room she had to check.

The second room was the kimono room Naru had been peering into through the lattice in the mudroom entrance. Madoka slid the paper door open and stepped into the shadows cast by the kimonos in their stands. There was nothing immediately in sight, but she looked into the closet. It was stacked with boxes, helter-skelter, and she knew if she touched one they would all come tumbling down. There was only one box that seemed out of place, sitting in the middle of the closet floor.

She didn’t want to open it, didn’t want to risk finding something inside the box—a lingering spirit or a corpse—but she knew if she didn’t, Naru would get up in her face about it. Holding the red journal she had picked up in the other room tight against her side, she toed the lid off the box. For one heart-stopping moment, it looked like someone was lying inside it, but when Madoka looked again, it was empty. Relieved, she put the lid back on and left the room, leaving that door open too.

“Help me…”

The voice was small and tinny, like a child’s.

Madoka’s skin crawled, a shiver going down her spine.

“Please, I’m scared… It’s dark… Help me…”

She turned back to face the kimono room where the sound was coming from, but the room was dim. She didn’t see anyone there, not a single soul. “Who’s there?” she called anyway. Her voice was so small and faint in the room that she was sure no one heard her. 

“I’m scared… I’m so scared. Please…”

Lin’s name was on the tip of Madoka’s tongue to shout for help when she saw movement inside the kimono room. It was just a fleeting shadow, a little glimpse really, of something in the darkness, but it stole all the breath from her lungs. 

Madoka was Naru’s teacher but having no psychic ability to speak of meant she did most of her ghost hunting with cameras, temperature gauges, and magnetic waves. She had taught Naru the technicalities of ghost hunting, but she had never actually seen a ghost with her own eyes, only a few fleeting orbs on the camera or a blurred photograph. But now she understood why mediums were so pale after encountering a spirit. It was so totally unnerving. 

The line between the living and the dead blurred and the dead came into the world. 

“It’s dark. Please, help me… I’m scared…”

Something crept from the mouth of the kimono room. Two small pale hands appeared over the threshold, followed moments later by a head and shoulders. It was a small child, her face as pale and sickly as death with short dark hair. Madoka’s first instinct was to try to help the child, ghost or not, but then she froze as the girl lifted her face to look around. Her eyes were white, completely rolled into the back of her head and unseeing.

“Please, somebody find me…”

The little girl reached out, her fingers catching the hem of Madoka’s jeans and pulled with surprising force.

“Help me!” the child’s voice rose to a shriek, yanking at Madoka. “Help me!”

When she pulled again, she took Madoka’s legs out from under her. With a crash, Madoka fell, her head knocking into the cast-iron pot still sitting in the sunken fireplace and sending stars dancing through her vision. The little girl’s body was ice-cold and she quickly crawled up Madoka’s fallen body. Her icy hands cupped Madoka’s cheeks, holding her face tightly. 

“When the darkness comes, you’re not going to leave me like my mommy did, right?” the child demanded of Madoka, her small fingers digging into her face.

Madoka sucked in some air, the cold of the girl’s body bringing back the sensations she had lost when she hit her head. The air was so cold that it was almost hard to breathe, but Madoka sucked in a desperate breath and screamed, “Lin! Naru! Someone, help me!”

…

Naru had gone down the dirt-floor hallway. There was a storage room in the rear of the house, packed with things that hadn’t been used in a long time including a torn paper folding screen and a coal brazier. At the rear of the room was a small fenced in garden with lattices and lit with small bluish lamps. A cool breeze blew in through the open lattice, but there was nothing out of the ordinary in the room. He ducked back out, closing the door behind himself, and continued down the hallway. 

He came to a staircase going up and called to Lin just to be certain that he was okay up there, since he was close by and all. The Chinese man appeared at the top of the stairs and assured Naru that he was alright. Content with that, Naru continued his search. 

Next, he came across a door that was stuck fast. It was tempting to apply some of his massive psychokinesis or Qigong to it, but if his body failed him and he lost consciousness, there would be no way for his friends to help him. Instead, he gave the door some good old-fashioned muscle. 

After a hearty shove, the door ground open. Ever the rational scientist, he searched for an obstruction, but couldn’t find anything.

Then, Naru stepped inside and found himself in the family’s altar room. There was a chest of drawers pushed against the wall beside the altar, but the drawers had been pulled out and everything was scattered all over the floor. Papers littered the floor, a vase was smashed, and the table was broken in half. In the adjoining room, the doors were warped closed and there was just as much ruin in that room. Everything had been trashed, except the family altar.

He investigated the altar and discovered that the Osaka family had once lived in this house. Now, they were probably all dead, just like the rest of this village.

A strange sound filled the still air in the room. Was it… chanting? It sounded like ceremonial singing, but he couldn’t be certain. Maybe the sound was only the wind, but it didn’t seem likely. Something was down there… behind the wall… behind the altar… What was it?

He rapped his knuckles on the wall, searching for a secret compartment or passageway, but he couldn’t detect anything. Maybe it was his imagination.

Then, the sound of Madoka’s scream split the air, shrill and desperate. “Lin! Naru! Someone, help me!” He had never heard his teacher’s voice sound like that before and it chilled the hot blood in his veins.

…

Lin was searching the second floor of the Osaka house which turned out to be far smaller than even he had suspected. There was a single door in the narrow hallway that made up the second floor, the hallway was open and allowed a clear view of the sunken fireplace room below. He watched Madoka nervously beginning to search before turning to the task at hand. 

He opened the door. Inside was a large room that had been divided into four parts with unpainted folding screens. His search of the room revealed nothing unusual. Everything was dusty, the closet stacked full of boxes, writing materials and old parchment laid out on the table, and no sign of an struggle. 

Whoever had lived here had left in a hurry, if they had had a chance to leave. But if the people in this house had been killed, they hadn’t been killed here. 

Suddenly, Madoka screamed, her voice full of a fear he had never heard before.

Lin launched from the room, his waist slamming into the railing that looked down over the room below with a crack. Madoka was lying on the floor at the mouth of the open kimono room and there was a small child lying on her chest, gripping her face. Lin pressed his fingers to his mouth, his whistle erupting like a shot in the silence. His shiki raced down between Madoka and the ghost child, separating them immediately. With a wail of agony, the child vanished, slinking back into the darkness of the kimono room and the door banged shut behind her.

Madoka scrambled to her feet and launched herself at Lin the moment he reached the bottom of the stairs. Her body was like ice pressed against him, she was shivering and her teeth were chattering, and she was whispering something unintelligible. 

Lin rubbed her back, not sure what else to do to comfort her.

Naru raced into the room. “What happened?”

“There was a ghost,” Lin explained. “A little girl and she was crawling all over Madoka.”

Naru looked relieved. “She’s okay?”

“A little shaken up, but yes,” Lin said. 

Madoka sniffled and pulled herself together, letting go of Lin’s shirt to shakily brush herself off. “That was the scariest moment of my life,” she murmured.

Naru patted her on the back. “You’re okay, Madoka,” he said gently. Then, he turned to Lin. “Did you find anything upstairs?”

The Chinese man shook his head. “Nothing. Did you find anything?”

“The family altar room,” Naru told him. “This house belonged to the Osaka family. That’s all I found out.” He didn’t mention the strange noises coming from behind the wall because it didn’t seem like there was anything they could do about them. 

“Madoka?” Lin asked gently, patting her shoulder. “Did you find anything?”

Shakily, she nodded and wiped her nose on the back of her hand. “Here. It’s Sudo Miyako’s journal.”

Naru quickly read it and then handed it to Lin so he could read it. When Lin finished, he tucked it into the backpack he had brought for carrying anything useful they found in the village. He shouldered the backpack and turned to Naru and Madoka.

“It hasn’t been an hour yet, but I think we should regroup with the others. If Mai’s had a dream, she might be able to point us in the right direction to look next,” Naru said. 

Madoka nodded. “Please, I want to get out of this place.”

Without further incident, they were able to leave the Osaka house and trek their way back up the hill to where they had left Mai, Bou-san, and Yasuhara earlier. When they got there, they realized what had happened in their absence. Mai and Bou-san were alone on the hill. Where was Yasuhara?

**X X X**

Man, these chapters are coming out so long!

I REFUSE TO UPDATE THIS STORY UNTIL I GET AT LEAST THREE REVIEWS! THIS MEANS THAT THE COUNTER MUST REACH THE NUMBER SIX! You want more, review… or else… You will never know what happens! Mwuahaha! 

Questions, comments, concerns?


	5. Mai's Dream of Naru's Twin?

Thank you to Ariana Taniyama, Music-Lover2011, and melodyann75 for reviewing! Thanks to you guys, you get another chapter so this if for you!

**Day One, Endless Night**

The crooked red torii gate was overwhelmed with flora, vines and trees and shrubs that made the forest beyond it impenetrable. Naru had been absently hoping that the path would miraculously reappear since it had vanished so suddenly, but nothing had changed on the other side of the gate. As he stood there, looking at it, he felt as if he heard a sobbing cry carried on the wind. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” But it might have only been the wind—there was no way to know for sure without Masako.

“Where’s Yasuhara?” Madoka asked once it became apparent that the teenager wasn’t with Bou-san and Mai and he wasn’t just ducked behind some bushes to take a leak. She gasped, her heart pounding. “Did something happen?”

Bou-san and Mai were sitting together at the base of the gate, the backpacks gathered up behind them. Mai’s eyes were red-rimmed from crying, but she had pulled herself together now.

Naru put out a hand to calm Madoka and turned to Bou-san. “What happened?”

“The kid was sitting here with Mai and we were talking. Then, all of the sudden, he got up and started walking away. I called for him to stop, but he didn’t until he reached that altar,” Bou-san gestured to the stone altar and the claw-like pillars surrounding it. “Then, it became clear that a spirit had possessed him. It was the spirit of a young woman in a white kimono, but it was all covered in blood. She started laughing hysterically. I had to wake up Mai and I tried to exorcise the spirit from Yasuhara, but there was nothing I could do. The woman’s spirit took Yasuhara into the ground and I tried to grab him, but…” Bou-san shook his head mournfully.

Naru muttered a curse under his breath. If only he had John stay behind with Bou-san, Mai, and Yasuhara, then this could have been avoided. Yasuhara could have been saved! He shook himself. He couldn’t start thinking like that—if only and what if…? “There’s nothing we can do about that now,” Naru said instead. “If we keep searching, we’ll eventually find the woman’s spirit. Let’s regroup with the others and we’ll investigate the places Masako found the highest concentration of spirits. Mai, see if you can sleep in the time that remains before they come back.”

Bou-san looked at his watch. “In about twenty minutes, the first hour will be up,” he said to Mai. 

Mai nodded and tried to make herself comfortable. Madoka came to sit beside her and Mai thought the woman’s body was unusually cold, but she didn’t say anything about it. Instead, she leaned against Madoka and let the woman wrap her arm around her shoulders comfortingly. Mai closed her eyes and centered herself, trying to relax and breathe deeply. With Naru, Lin, and Madoka back with them, Mai found it easier to relax. Madoka was humming a sweet song, her voice gentle and soothing.

The warm white light came in at the edges of her vision, wrapped around her, and she slipped into the realm of sleep.

In her dream, Mai found herself standing beside the altar framed with talon-like pillars. Beneath the stone altar in the center, there was a kind of blood-colored glow, but Mai didn’t understand what it meant. She went to the edge of the hill and looked down over the village below. There were small white will-o-the-wisp lights floating all over and there was a high concentration of spirits in one house. It almost seemed to be in the basement of the house, deep underground, but deeper even than that. It felt as if it went on forever, into an abyss, into hell itself.

Mai didn’t know what made her turn away from the view of the village below, but she turned and saw the faint glow of a pair of crimson butterflies. They seemed to be calling to her, beckoning her. Though a part of her begged not to follow, insisted that something bad would happen if she followed the butterflies, pleaded that she wouldn’t go, she followed it anyway. 

The crimson butterflies led her down the steep path into the village, past the Osaka house that Naru and the others had investigated. At the bottom of the hill, the butterflies flit to the right and led Mai past a dark well and the entrance of a small ruined house. They stopped before a small white building and then vanished.

Alone, Mai looked around. She had hoped Naru would come to meet her in her dreams, but she was very alone.

She approached the building and tried the front doors, but they were locked heavily. Why would her dream had brought her here if this place was locked? She heard a creak and quickly circled the front of the building. There was a gate tucked around the side, leading to a small rear area that had been fenced in. It was hanging open, creaking as the breeze swayed it. 

“Hello?” Mai called.

No one responded to her call. 

Gently, she pushed open the creaking gate and stepped into the small fenced-in area. There was a small statue resting in the thick flora, a depiction of the Twin Shrine Maidens bound together with a cord and holding hands, carved in pale grey stone. A single faintly-glowing crimson butterfly was resting on the deity statue, its wings fanning gently. 

“Wow,” she breathed.

“W-who are you?” a small voice called. “What are you doing here?”

Mai whirled around, her heart racing. There was a small barred window just at eyelevel and there was a young man standing behind the window, his white hands gripping the bars. His hair was bright white, his face parchment pale, wearing a white kimono. In all that whiteness, his eyes looked like dark abysses. 

“I’m Mai,” she said to him. “Who are you?”

“Tachibana Itsuki,” he said softly. “You have to get out of here. You’re an outsider and the Ritual is fast approaching.”

“The Ritual?” she asked.

He nodded, his face grave. “You and the twins have to get out.”

“What twins?” Mai asked.

Itsuki’s dark eyes bypassed Mai’s face and looked behind her. “I promised Mutsuki that I wouldn’t let the ritual happen to anyone else,” he murmured.

Mai turned and found Naru standing behind her. Normally, in her dreams, he wore a surreal smile, but now, his face was white-pale and strange to her. He looked… almost afraid. A pair of crimson butterflies was dancing around him, lighting on his shoulders for a moment before flying around him again.

“Naru,” Mai murmured. Then, she turned back to Itsuki. “But, Naru isn’t a twin.”

“You have to get out of here,” the white-haired boy told her insistently. Then, he turned his deep dark eyes to Naru, tragic and staring. “It’s not too late. Leave before the Ritual takes place… or you will lose someone you love… like I did…”

“What do you mean?” Mai asked. “What ritual?”

Another butterfly flit past her face, going to dance over the statue. The statue seemed to glow for a moment, but then the light was gone. She turned to look at it, watching it fly, and when she turned back to the small barred window, the shutters had been closed and the imprisoned white-haired boy was gone. 

“Itsuki?” she called, but there was no answer. Mai turned back to Naru. He was watching the butterflies closely, watching as they collectively gathered in front of him and then fluttered back through the creaking gateway. “Naru?” Mai asked.

As if he didn’t hear her, he turned and followed the butterflies.

“Naru!” she shouted, her voice echoing eerily. “Wait!”

He continued walking, following the butterflies back down the path until he came to a narrow road that ran between two houses connected by a bridge overhead. There was a small glowing light on the bridge, just hovering there, pulsing. Mai raced after Naru, shouting his name, but he didn’t respond. He continued into the courtyard between the two houses and much to Mai’s surprise, there was a second house nestled just behind them with large double doors. As Naru approached, the butterflies vanished and the doors swung open.

“Naru!” she shouted. “Wait!” Inside, she could see more flickering will-o-the-wisps. “Don’t go in there!”

A chill shot down her spine. 

_“The twins who will become the sacrifice have returned!”_

Naru went through the double doors, Mai right on his heels, but the doors slammed in her face. “No! Naru, wait! Come out!” She grabbed the handles of the door and yanked and heaved. She crashed into the door with her hip and shoulder, trying to force it, but it was closed tightly. No force of hers would open it. “Naru!” she shouted again, but the world around her began to fade.

She was waking up…

Mai came back to her senses with a jolt. Masako, Ayako, and John had returned and Bou-san was once again going through what had happened to Yasuhara. Madoka’s body was warm against her side and Lin was sitting on her other side, typing busily on his laptop. When they finished their explanation of what had happened to Yasuhara and Masako informed them that she couldn’t get any kind of read on where the possessed Yasuhara was now, they all regrouped around Mai, Madoka, and Lin.

“Well, Mai?” Naru asked. “Did you find anything useful in your dream?”

Mai sat up straighter and Bou-san pulled her to her feet. She stretched, her body aching and cold from sitting on the hard ground for so long. “I’m not sure. I saw a lot of spirits in the village and…” she trailed off, looking at Naru. Was it possible that he was a twin? No, Naru had never spoken of a twin or of his family at all, for that matter. Mai didn’t know anything about Naru. Maybe he did have a twin, but his twin wasn’t here with them so what could the imprisoned boy Itsuki have meant?

“Mai?” Naru asked.

“Um, I’m not sure,” she forced out. “I was talking to this boy who was locked in a storehouse. He told me about a Ritual and that I had to leave before it takes place. Then, I saw… someone… go into this building and the doors slammed behind him.”

“Him?” Masako asked. 

Mai bit her lip. “Yeah.”

“Was he alone?” the medium asked.

“As far as I could tell,” Mai told her. 

“Do you think he’s a twin?”

“I don’t know, but I heard a voice saying, ‘The twins who will become the sacrifice have returned.’”

Masako tucked her dark hair behind her ear. “I do feel so many tormented spirits of twins in this place.” Then, she turned to Naru and the rest of the team quickly began discussing plans and formulating ideas about what this meant and what to do next.

With a sigh of relief, Mai turned to Madoka. “Can I ask you something?” She glanced at Lin nervously, but he didn’t pay any attention to her. “In private?”

“Of course.” Madoka accepted Mai’s hand and let the girl help her up. Then, the two of them walked to the other side of the stone altar. “What is it?”

“Madoka, does Naru have a… a twin?” Mai asked.

Madoka’s eyes widened. “What makes you think that?”

“It’s just that…” Mai hesitated. She didn’t want anyone to know she was dreaming about Naru, but she had a feeling that knowing whether or not Naru was a twin could save his life. “Listen, Madoka, please don’t tell anyone but Naru guides me into my dreams somehow—”

“Naru does?” Madoka repeated, her eyes widening and her brows lifting incredulously.

“Let me finish. And in this dream, the imprisoned boy looked at him and they way he was talking to Naru in my dream makes me think that Naru is a twin,” Mai said. “And I think his life might be in danger if he is a twin. Please, tell me the truth Madoka, does Naru have a twin?”

Madoka bit her lip. Then, she glanced over her shoulder at the team assembled behind them. “Yes, Mai. He is… was…” she trailed off. 

“Was?” Mai whispered.

“But his twin is… dead,” Madoka confessed.

“Dead?” Mai repeated, her heart pounding. 

She must have looked unsteady on her feet because Madoka gently put her hand on Mai’s shoulder as if to keep her on her feet. She rubbed Mai’s upper arms tenderly and then pulled the girl into a hug, stroking her hair. “Yes, Gene was hit by a car and killed,” Madoka explained to Mai. 

A thought occurred to Mai, her heart throbbing. “W-were they identical twins?” she whispered.

“Yes,” Madoka said with a nod. 

“And did—”

“Gene,” Madoka supplied.

“Did Gene smile really beautifully?” Mai asked.

Madoka wiped a tear from the corner of her eyes. “Yeah. Gene was such a wonderful person.”

Mai sank to her knees. “Madoka, I think I’m in contact with Naru’s dead twin and that his spirit is here in this place with us,” she whispered. “Even though he’s already dead, somehow, the villagers want to use him and Naru for their ritualistic sacrifice.”

“What sacrifice?” Madoka asked.

Mai clung to her. “I… I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling… A very bad feeling…” She lifted her coffee-colored eyes and look at Naru’s pale face through the darkness, her heart throbbing and her body ice-cold. She sucked in a breath, trying to pull herself back together.

Itsuki’s words rang through her head. _“Leave before the Ritual takes place… or you will lose someone you love… like I did…”_

A crimson butterfly suddenly appeared on the stone altar and took flight, heading straight for Naru. A scream of warning got caught in Mai’s throat as all eyes turned to watch the butterfly. It flew to Naru and gently rested on his throat, settling just beneath his Adams apple. Then, it blazed with a bright blood-colored light and fluttered away. Before anyone could stop him, Naru turned and followed it. He made it a few steps down the steep path that lead to the village before Lin leaped to his feet and followed after him, Bou-san and John seconds behind, but Naru was already gone. He had vanished without a trace, leaving only the crimson butterfly in his wake.

**X X X**

Questions, comments, concerns?

Anyone who has FAVORITED or ALERTED, but NOT REVIEWED should be ASHAMED! It doesn’t take much TIME or EFFORT to just drop a quick REVIEW and it makes us writers very HAPPY. I’m talking to you, Bunnibutch, Angel-Hime-Chan, and mixed array.

Please review! Look how quickly I update when people review!


	6. Trapped: Beyond the Gates

Another long-ass chapter!

**Day One, Endless Night**

Mai decided it was best that they didn’t waste any time. She pulled away from Madoka and quickly darted to where Lin, John, and Bou-san were standing, staring in disbelief at the place Naru had been only moments before. Mai grabbed Bou-san’s sleeve and pulled until he looked down at her.

“What Mai?” he asked.

“I think I know where Naru’s going,” she said eagerly. “If we hurry, maybe we can—” Her voice broke off, the image of the double doors of the house slamming closed behind the Naru in her dream moments before Mai reached the door. It might already be too late, but she wouldn’t know if she didn’t try. “Let’s go! Hurry!”

Without waiting for them to argue with her or anything else, she took off running down the path. Her feet skidded and slid beneath her, but she hit a stone path and was able to get her footing. She was at the base of the path now with the Osaka house to her left and the narrow path that led to the small jailhouse where Itsuki was imprisoned was to the right. The house with double doors that she had seen Naru go into in her dream was around the Osaka house and down the path that ran between the two houses connected by and overhead bridge where a single spirit was lingering.

Mai raced towards the courtyard where the house was, surprised to find the entire area lit by stone lamps that cast flickering light across the floor. Just like in her dream, the doors were wide open and accepting Naru inside, beckoning him was a single crimson butterfly.

“Naru!” she screamed. “Don’t go!”

As if he didn’t hear her, he continued walking into the open threshold. His black clothing was absorbed in the shadows of the stone gate and the doors began to close. Mai was inches away from the doors and Naru, her fingers just brushing his back. 

She heard the clatter of feet behind her as the others joined her in the courtyard. Several people shouted Naru’s name. Then Bou-san shouted for her to stop. Mai didn’t even realize that she was already past the threshold until the doors slammed closed behind her and the darkness wrapped around her. She heard the lock in the door slide into position and echo in the silence. 

_“The twins who will become the sacrifice have returned!”_

“Mai! Mai!” Bou-san shouted from the other side of the door. He was banging on the doors with his fists, trying to pry and beat his way in. A moment later, Lin and John joined him, all three of them tearing at the thick double doors. But Mai knew they wouldn’t be able to get in. 

She wished she had a flashlight as she groped at the doors, praying she could unlock the door from the inside. 

“Mai! Open the door!” Bou-san shouted.

“I can’t!” she shouted back. “You’ll have to find some other way in! Or find the key!”

“Stay there! We’ll find you,” Bou-san called, lowering his voice as the panic left him. “Are you okay? Is Naru with you?”

Mai turned around to look for Naru and survey her surroundings and discovered that the double doors weren’t doors at all. They were more like gates, actually, because Mai wasn’t in a house at all. She was standing in a small courtyard ringed with tall trees that cast deep shadows. Directly before her was a long bridge that led to another small courtyard and Mai could see a massive house beyond it. In the moonlight, Mai couldn’t see Naru anywhere. 

“No, I can’t see him,” she called to the others.

“Just stay there, Mai,” Bou-san insisted. “We’ll find a way through.”

“But Naru’s already gone,” Mai protested.

“Please, Mai, just stay there,” Ayako chimed in. “It’s not safe.”

But Mai ignored her friends and turned her attention back to the bridge before her. She crossed it, her footsteps echoing hollowly on the wood. Beneath the bridge, pitch-black water undulated slowly and for a moment, Mai thought she saw the body of a woman in the water, but when she looked again, there was nothing there. She entered the second courtyard that stood before the house and spent a moment staring up at the building. It had great double doors and a small door to the right. The smaller door was locked when she tried it. She had never seen such a large house before.

Her friends’ call for her were distant.

Naru was nowhere to be seen.

Mai approached the double doors and pushed them open. The interior of the foyer was pitch-black save a few slats of moonlight coming in through the small round window somewhere in the darkness at the end of a long hallway. Then, suddenly, she sensed a presence behind her and heard a small soft laugh.

“Yasuhara!” she gasped and whirled. 

Standing there was the young woman in the white bloodstained kimono, her mouth curved in up in a twisted smile, but then she was gone without a trace. Even her laughter was gone. The only sounds were the others’ distant calls for Mai to come back and the lapping of the water. Mai turned her attention back to the house and slipped into the darkness within. The doors slammed shut behind her and the darkness swallowed her up.

**…X…**

“Shit!” Bou-san swore and fiercely kicked the gate. It didn’t even move. 

Nothing was going to move this gate except an otherworldly force… or the key.

Mai had stopped answering them—there was silence on the other side of the gates. Something had either happened to her or she had gone after Naru and Bou-san’s money was on the latter of the two. If something had happened to Mai, she would have screamed like a banshee. 

“What do we do now?” Ayako demanded, prying at the gates with her fingernails.

John carefully pushed her hands away, offering a small smile.

She looked at her ragged broken nails and rubbed them on her jeans. “Hell…”

Madoka bit her lip, scraping her mahogany hair into a sloppy ponytail. They were being separated from each other and picked off one at a time. First, Yasuhara. Now, Naru and Mai. Who was next? What would she do if it came down to just her, alone in this place? She shuddered.

Masako hadn’t tried to bash down the gate and was standing back from the group, surveying their surroundings. “Mai dreamed about that imprisoned boy who gave her some information. If I can find him, maybe he had give us some clue of how to proceed.”

“It’s all we’ve got,” Lin agreed. “Let’s go.”

“But, Mai didn’t say where he was so how are we supposed to find him?” John put in. 

“Well,” Masako murmured, “If I can find a spirit that’s confined to one area…”

“And it was probably close by,” Ayako added. “Mai’s dreams are usually small and specific.”

“Alright,” Bou-san said. “Let’s start with that.”

“Maybe someone should stay here in case the doors somehow open,” Madoka suggested.

“That might be a good idea,” Lin said. “Madoka and I will stay. They rest of you go with Masako and search for the imprisoned boy.”

They all nodded, agreeing. 

Masako, Bou-san, Ayako, and John left the courtyard, disappearing through the narrow path between the two houses. Masako, Ayako, and John didn’t dare look up, lest the spirit of the woman with the broken neck was up there, watching, preparing to jump to her death once again. Bou-san looked up though, wondering why they all suddenly looked so edgy, but he didn’t see anything except an empty bridge connecting the two houses.

Left behind, Madoka and Lin sat down with their backs against the gate and waited in silence.

…

The moment Masako led the others from the small passage beneath the bridge between the houses, several crimson butterflies appeared. They danced just a few feet away from the group of four, fluttering in the air and glowing faintly in the darkness. Once the butterflies were certain they were watching, they began to fly away as if leading them.

“Masako,” Ayako asked, “What are they?”

“I can’t be too certain, but they feel like… the souls of twins who died in great pain, but they aren’t angry or vengeful. They died willingly,” the medium tried to explain.

“Well, should we follow them?” John asked.

Masako nodded and began to follow the glowing crimson butterflies. The others fell into step behind her and the butterflies led them to a small pale single-room jailhouse beside a dark well. John went to peer into the well because they were going to need water if they remained trapped here when their supplies ran out, but reported nothing. There wasn’t even any water in the bottom.

“Is this it?” Ayako asked, watching as the butterflies flew around the side of the building and vanished from sight.

“I do feel a spirit here,” Masako said, pressing the sleeve of her kimono to her mouth.

“Alright,” Bou-san said, pushing forward past the girls protectively. “Let’s check it out.” There was a small gate alongside the building and it creaked noisily when he swung it open. So much for stealth… He gestured for them to enter behind him.

The crimson butterflies had all gathered on a small statuette carved with the image of the Twin Shrine Maidens. 

There was a small barred window, but it was empty of any white-haired imprisoned boy. Bou-san peered in through the window at a small cell. It looked lived in, set up with a bed, a basin of water, and an empty tray that had probably been used to serve a meal.

“You don’t think anyone still alive could still be locked in there, do you?” Bou-san asked Ayako.

Her eyes went wide and she came to peer in the window as well. 

“Masako, do you sense anything?” John asked the medium.

Masako gestured for everyone to step away and then stood, staring at the window for a long moment. There was a faint movement inside, like the fluttering of a bird’s white wings. No one appeared at the window, but a soft voice rang out. 

“Who are you?” a young man called.

“My name is Masako,” she spoke. Her voice seemed eerie, echoing off the walls strangely.

“You… you have to leave before the Ritual. Hurry, there’s not much time left,” the young man informed her. He sounded a little desperate with fear. 

“Our friends are missing. They’re trapped in the house with the double doors,” Masako explained to the empty window. “We need to get them out before we can even think about leaving.”

“The Kurosawa house?” the boy murmured. “That isn’t good. That boy must be planning on going through with the Ritual.”

“What Ritual?” Masako asked him.

He ignored her question. “If you hurry, you can stop them,” he said instead. “The keys to the gate are enshrined in the statues of the Twin Deities.”

“Keys?” 

“Yes, there are two keys, just like there are two twins. Everything in this place…” He trailed off, silence stretching through the darkness. A single butterfly became agitated and flew into the cell through the bars of the window, quickly vanishing in the darkness. “If you hurry, you can stop them. You have to stop them. Don’t let them perform the Ritual. He’s planning to do it. Hurry, hurry!”

Then, with a bang, the shutters on either side of his barred window slammed shut.

“Did you find anything out?” Bou-san asked Masako.

“You mean, you couldn’t hear him?” the medium asked.

Bou-san shook his head. 

She wet her lips and then nodded. “Yes,” she said. “He told me that the keys to the gate are enshrined in the Twin Deities statues, like that one.” She gestured to the statuette coated in crimson butterflies behind them. “There are two keys that we need to find to unlock the doors.”

“Alright,” Bou-san said. “Let’s do it!”

“Wait,” Masako broke in. “He also told me about a Ritual. The way he talked… he made it sound as if someone was going to be killed.”

“We’d better hurry,” John said.

“Should we split up?” Ayako asked. 

“I don’t know if it’s safe,” Bou-san said, “but we’re so short on time. We need to hurry.” 

Ayako bit her lip. “If you go with Masako and I go with John, we should be okay. We can cover each other’s weaknesses.”

“Well, that’s not very fair to John, is it?” Bou-san chirped, needling the self-claimed miko. “To be partnered with you?”

Ayako glared at the monk, but didn’t rise to the bait. “I can be counted on for my Nine Words. Masako is a medium so she can protect herself from being possessed, but since she is a medium, the ghosts might be after her especially. You’re better suited to protect her than me. John and I can protect ourselves and each other.”

“You’ve really thought this through,” Bou-san said.

“Mai’s alone in that Kurosawa house. We need to get to her,” Ayako snapped at him. “You know what a danger magnet she is!”

“And Naru’s gone too,” Masako added.

John tried to pacify them, getting between Ayako and Bou-san. “Please, let’s hurry.”

So, the four of them split up and headed off in different directions in search of the keys to the gate. Masako and Bou-san headed back up to the hill where the crooked torii gate and the stone altar were since there were a few statues up there. Ayako and John went into the village, searching each and every statue they found along the way. 

It became apparent right away though that the crimson butterflies were guiding them along their way. A slew of them was hovering over one of the statues and when John searched it, he found one of the keys. On the hill, the same thing happened to Bou-san and Masako. They regrouped with Lin and Madoka only a few minutes later, each bearing their keys. They fit them into the locks and the double doors swung open with a creak and slammed shut behind them.

**X X X**

I’m trying to follow the plot of the video game without getting too sidetracked and also keep the Ghost Hunt characters in character and in line. I think I’m doing a pretty bang-up job! Has anyone played Fatal Frame 2? What do you think? Think I’m doing a good job or do I just have a swelled head?

Questions, comments, concerns?

Review!


	7. The Great Hall of the Kurosawa House

I think this might be the shortest chapter so far, but it’s still pretty long…

**Day One, Endless Night**

Inside the Kurosawa house, Mai was alone in the dark. Of course, she figured that Naru was in there somewhere with her too, but for all intents and purposes, she was alone. After tripping her way up the few steps before her in the darkness, she was beginning to think she should have waited for the others like they told her to, but there was no taking it back now and she did not intend to just stand there like a sitting duck. So, with no other choice, she groped her way through the hallway before her. 

There were two doors at the end of the hallway—the right door was locked up tight and painted with the image of a crimson butterfly, but left door swung open easily. She found herself in a small room with a few kimonos on stands and low dressers. She could hear someone whimpering and sobbing, but when she looked around, she couldn’t find anyone or anything. 

Steeling herself, Mai continued on into a hallway with a dirt floor. A few feet in, there was a short hallway to her left and a wall darkly stained with blood. Shivering, Mai avoided the hallway altogether and continued on. At the end of the hallway, there was a pair of sliding doors that Mai pushed open easily. Beyond the doors, there was pitch darkness broken by only a single square of moonlight that didn’t illuminate more than a few feet in either direction of the window.

But Naru was in here… somewhere…

Mai had to find him before the Ritual took place. Whatever it was, she knew it was bad—someone was going to die if the Ritual was performed, just like Itsuki had said. 

Taking a deep breath, Mai entered the pitch-dark room with her hands outstretched. It seemed to be a kind of great hall with a sunken fireplace in the center with a few folding screens in the room’s center. That was all Mai could make out before the moon slid behind a cloud and she was enveloped in pure blackness.

“Now, Mai,” she urged herself. “Don’t panic. It’s only a little darkness. Just keep walking…”

She made it a few feet before she stumbled over something in the darkness. She nearly fell, but clutched at the wall to keep herself on her feet. Something wet and sticky was caked all over the wall, sticking to Mai’s bare skin. Steady on her feet again, she tried to take another step, carefully avoiding whatever had tripped her, but her foot came down on something that rolled beneath her weight and she almost fell again. A chill ran through her blood and she suddenly had a very bad feeling.

“What the—?” she began.

The moon reappeared, allowing a shaft of moonlight into the pitch-dark room. 

A scream crawled from Mai’s strangled throat and she stumbled backwards, tripping left and right.

Bodies…! 

There were bodies all over the room, stacked on top of each other, strewn across the floor, and heaped against the walls. They had all been slashed to ribbons, their blood steeping into the very air and the tatami floor. One of the slaughtered villagers reached for Mai, groaning in absolute agony.

She clapped her hands to her mouth. 

Then, a woman’s insane laughter echoed through the room. The young woman in the bloodstained white kimono was standing beside the sunken fireplace, her head thrown back so that her dark hair was feathered all around her shoulders, and Mai saw a dark laceration around her throat. Had she been… strangled? Or hung maybe? All around her feet, there were bodies heaped up, slashed and massacred into useless heaps of flesh. Had the woman killed all these people? The young woman in the bloody kimono laughed wildly, insanely, like someone who had nothing left to lose. 

There was a strange sound in the room, just behind the woman’s laughter. 

It was a moan of anguish and fear and delight. Then, appearing just behind the woman in the bloody kimono, a ghost bound and wrapped in ropes reared up. His entire body had been slashed and tormented beyond repair, thickly scabbed over now. His right arm was severed from his body, tied to his chest in the wrong direction with a Shinto rope covered in sacred talismans and zigzag paper streamers. His hair was standing on end, his mouth gaping open in a wail of death, and his dark eyes staring uselessly ahead. He reached for Mai with his remaining arm, wailing.

Mai’s first instinct was to run, but she forced herself to stand her ground. “Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan,” she chanted, pressing her fingers together. 

For a moment, the ghost hesitated.

The dying man who had been reaching for Mai began shrieking, screaming, and howling. The male ghost came forward a few more steps as if encouraged by the screams, his bloody feet coming to rest on the dying man’s back. The dying man convulsed, his shrieks like death, and then fell still and silent. Had one touch from that ghost killed him in an instant?

Mai was in over her head. There was no way her flimsy counter spell could stand up against something like this! 

She ran, hurling open the door just ahead of her, and throwing herself out it. Hands closed on her shoulders, tightly, gripping her hard even as she struggled to escape. She could still hear the wailing of that ghost behind her and the woman’s insane laughter—God, it seemed so close! It seemed only inches away.

What if that ghost touched her? Would she be killed on the spot, just like that man? 

Then, the door was slammed shut and abrupt silence descended. There was no more laughter, no more wailing. There was only pure deathly silence, but Mai’s relief was short-lived. Someone’s cold hands were still digging into her shoulders and she struggled, trying to escape the hold, but the fingers only dug in tighter. She couldn’t escape.

Mai screamed!

**…X…**

Bou-san and the others had just entered the Kurosawa house when Mai’s shrill scream shook the building. They exchanged quick glances in a small state of panic and then raced towards the sound, feet and hearts poundings. Bou-san and Lin were at the lead, followed just behind by Ayako. Madoka and Masako were in the middle, Masako laboring in her geta. John was bringing up the rear, protecting their backs. Together, they rushed down the path Mai had taken and reached the doors to the great hall.

Bou-san threw the doors open.

With a wail, the male ghost reached out, pawing at Bou-san’s face. Yowling in surprise, Bou-san floundered backwards into Ayako and the miko somehow kept him on his feet. Lin whistled, the bright white light of his shiki tearing through the tormented ghost. With a final wail, the ghost vanished. Lin caught a glimpse of the great hall as Mai had seen it—littered with bodies, the woman in the bloody kimono standing at the center, laughing—and then it was gone. 

It was just an empty room, not even bloodstained.

“W-what was that?” Bou-san gasped out, his hand pressed to his chest. “It’s not good for an old man’s heart!”

Ayako said plainly, “We should hurry.” Then, she gave the monk a shove into the great hall.

Bou-san shouted in surprise, stumbling to his knees, but no murdering ghost reappeared. He composed himself, brushing off the knees of his jeans. “It’s safe,” he said to the others. “Come on. We’ve got to find Mai.”

Everyone entered the room behind him, smiling despite the situation.

**…X…**

“Mai! Mai, calm down! It’s me!”

Mai stopped struggling and screaming long enough to actually look at the person who had grabbed her. It was Naru. His face was oddly pale, but it might have just been the light combined with his night-black clothing. His glacial eyes were strange so was the way he was still holding on to her, keeping her body pressed flush against his own, and his skin felt cold.

“Naru, you’re okay! What happened?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “I can’t remember. Something was… calling me.” He fell silent, his eyes distant as if he was seeing something she couldn’t.

“Something?” Mai repeated, breaking the silence.

Naru realized how closely he was holding her and put some space between them. “It’s nothing,” he said coldly. “Where are the others?”

“I don’t know. We got separated, but they should be on their way.”

“We should try to find a way out,” he said and reached for the door.

“No!” Mai shouted, grabbing a hold of his arm. “Don’t open it!”

“Why not?” he asked her, but did as she asked. 

“There’s… something on the other side,” she told him.

“Is this your intuition talking?” he asked her.

For a moment, she stared at him, confused. He had been there to grab her when she came spilling out of the door so how had been not seen that tormented ghost right on her heels, wailing? She asked, “Naru, don’t you remember? Didn’t you see it?”

“See what?” he asked.

“The ghost,” she said. “It was right behind me.”

Naru looked confused, his brow wrinkling.

“Naru?” Mai whispered. “Do you remember how you got here?”

“Yeah, something was calling me…”

“A crimson butterfly came to the hill and you followed it. Do you remember that?” she asked.

“No,” he said.

Mai wet her lips. “We have to get out of here. I saw another door when I came into this place. Maybe it’s another way out,” she said to him and then looked around the area. They were in some sort of square courtyard with a small garden in the center. To the left was a staircase going up and Mai could see a second floor above their heads, the windows glowing with amber light. “Have you gone up there?” she asked her boss.

Naru stared at the staircase as if he had never seen it before. “No,” he said.

“Let’s look up there first,” she suggested.

Naru just stood there, staring up at the staircase blankly. 

“Naru?” she asked, but he didn’t respond. She turned to look at the staircase and caught a glimpse of Naru up on the second floor, just about to enter the door at the top. But that was impossible! He would have had to walk right in front of her and she knew she would have seen him. “Naru!” she shouted.

Then, a thought occurred to her—twins!

She turned to look behind her where Naru had been standing, but he was gone. 

“T-this isn’t possible…” she whispered, looking from where she had seen Naru on the second floor to where he had been standing behind her. “Naru!” she shouted again and was about to race after him when the door behind her slid open. The wailing ghost was her immediate thought and fear spiked through her stomach like ice. “No!” she shouted, lunging for the courtyard staircase and what she hoped would be safety. “No!”

“Mai!” Bou-san shouted and managed to grab the girl’s hand. He yanked Mia back from the stairs, pulling her against his chest. “Mai, Mai, Mai, calm down. It’s us.”

“Bou-san! Lin!” Mai gasped. “Ayako! Masako! Madoka! John! You’re all here!”

“You betcha,” Bou-san said. “We came to save your sorry butt.”

“I heard you yelling for Naru,” Masako put in, staring Mai down. “Did you find him?”

“For a moment,” Mai said. “Then I lost him. He went up there.” She pointed up the staircase at the door at the top.

Bou-san patted her on the head. “Don’t worry. We’ll find him again,” he said comfortingly.

“I know,” Mai murmured. 

Ayako embraced her tightly and then gave her a harsh shake. “Thank God you’re alright,” she said in relief. Then, she nearly shouted, “But if you run off on us like that again, I swear to God we won’t come after you. You’ll be on your own, understand?”

Mai smiled. “I got it,” she said.

“Good.”

John gave Mai a pat on the back and a smile. Masako gave Mai a faint smile behind her kimono sleeve, her dark eyes revealing that she was happy to find Mai unharmed, but their rivalry over Naru not allowing her a better reaction. Madoka gave Mai a quick hug. Lin even gently placed his hand on her shoulder for a small second. Mai’s heart nearly stopped—the Chinese man never displayed any affection towards Mai. Maybe he liked her, way down deep inside, even just a tiny bit. 

Then, the group of intrepid ghost hunters headed up the stairs to the room where Naru had disappeared.

**X X X**

I thank Bunnibutch for reviewing! I’m sorry I squawked at you. (But you didn’t have to go and review every single chapter. One would have made me happy.) Thank you!

Questions, comments, concerns?


	8. Finding Yasuhara, but Where's Naru?

I wonder if I’ll ever write a short chapter…

**Day One, Endless Night**

The first room proved to be only a small guestroom with the usual furnishings and a bookshelf loaded with ancient books. Lin went immediately to the bookshelf, scanning the titles quickly. Mai continued through the room on Bou-san’s heels as he opened the door at the opposite end. This one opened into a creepy room, the lights all flickering eerily. Lying in the middle of the floor was the body of a woman, face down, dark hair strewn all around her head.

Masako gasped, her hands going to her mouth.

Bou-san skirted around the woman and tried the door on the other side of her body. There was no need to exorcise the spirit if she was just going to lay there on the floor. They should all be preserving their energy in this endless night in a vanished village. The lights flickered again, sending Bou-san’s shadow darting across the tatami floor. Masako’s kimono-clad shadow looked like a ghost in itself and Mai nearly shouted out her counter spell without thinking.

“Are you girls coming?” Bou-san asked them.

Mai nodded, following him into the next room.

“Ah,” Bou-san remarked. “Dolls… really creepy…”

Ayako joined them and shuddered. “Yuck, why do we always have to have cases with dolls?”

“Just lucky I guess,” Bou-san said. 

Masako gasped, lifting a trembling finger to point. 

“What is it?” Mai asked. She was the only one who had noticed Masako’s reaction. (Bou-san and Ayako were, by this point, in a full-fledged argument over the dolls and Ayako’s uselessness on past cases and how much she complained.) Mai turned to look where Masako was pointing.

There was an unpainted paper screen in the corner, backlit by bright amber candlelight. Cast on the screen was a dark shadow. Someone was sitting there behind it, holding something in their hands that looked the shape and size of a severed head, and whispering. _“We promised each other that we would always be together… so we ran away. But everyone… died. Everyone died…”_

Masako was frozen in the threshold of the room, but after the wailing rope man in the great hall had chased her, Mai was feeling much braver. She pushed past Bou-san and Ayako, going straight to the paper screen and peering behind it.

Yasuhara was lying on the floor behind it, unmoving.

Naru, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen even though there was no place else for him to go.

“Yasuhara!” Mai gasped and quickly knelt at the high-school-student-turned-paranormal-researcher’s side, rolling him onto his back and groping for his pulse. He was alive! Thank God… “Yasuhara,” she called, gently touching his pale face. “Hey, can you hear me? Are you alright?”

He stirred, groaning, and his eyes eased open behind the frames of his glasses. The light played on the lenses eerily. “Mai?” he whispered.

Masako came to kneel on his other side. “Yasuhara!” she said eagerly.

He immediately sat up, pressing a hand to his head. “What happened?”

Bou-san peered over the screen, gripping it tightly with both hands as if afraid that it would fall over on the girls and Yasuhara. “Hey, young fellow,” he said with a smile at them. “You okay?” Then, he turned to shout over his shoulder. “Lin! Madoka! We’ve found Yasuhara!”

The others clattered into the doll room. 

Mai sat back on her haunches, unsure whether to be happy or sad. They had found Yasuhara, but now they had no idea where Naru was. 

How would they ever find Naru now?

Lin had a book open in his hands, his dark eyes reading the yellowed pages swiftly. Madoka and John hurried to Yasuhara’s side, kneeling with Masako and Mai. It was getting a little crowded so Mai slithered her way out from behind the screen and went to stand in the middle of the room while everyone fussed over Yasuhara. The dolls stood up neatly in their stepped stand were creepy, just like Ayako said, and Mai felt like they were watching her. Well, all except for the two dolls at the front of the stand. They were missing their heads. Unnerved, she decided to wait in the other room. 

Mai had completely forgotten about the ghost of the woman lying on the tatami floor. 

The moment she left the doll room and the safety of her friends, the door slammed shut behind her and she was alone with the ghost in the flickering room. Then, the ghost lying on the floor began to crawl to her feet, groaning and growling, rising like a broken marionette in the hands of a useless puppeteer.

Mai repressed a shriek of fear and forced herself to think. She pressed her hands together and began her counter spell, trying to remain calm as the ghost crawled towards her. Then, the woman’s spirit got to her feet, arms hanging limp at her sides and hair obscuring her face. Mai began the Nine Words, shouting desperately. For a moment, they seemed to force the woman back, but then she charged at Mai with shocking speed. Her arms spread wide, her mouth gaping open in a wail, her eyes like black pits.

Then, the woman’s body crashed through Mai’s and there was no accurate description of the pain that raged through Mai’s entire body when the woman’s ghost fell through her. It was ice-cold, freezing her to the core and sucking all the breath from her lungs. It felt as if countless icy needles were being stabbed through her body, tearing her apart. She collapsed to her knees, wrapping her arms around her abdomen in agony. A scream ripped from her mouth.

Bou-san shouted, “Mai!” 

Mai heard him pounding on the door, but she couldn’t get any air into her lungs to speak or respond to him. Only an anguished choking noise escaped her. The woman had disappeared into the wall, but she suddenly reappeared in front of Mai, crawling again. 

“Hurry!” Ayako shouted at him.

“John! Use some holy water!” Bou-san shouted at the priest.

“Please, get out of the way!” John shouted, still somehow polite.

Mai heard the splash of water hitting the door and Bou-san threw himself at the door with a crash. The door exploded open and Bou-san, John, and Ayako poured into the room. Mai caught a glimpse of the doll room, of Lin moving to stand in front of Madoka, Masako, and Yasuhara to protect them.

“Mai!” Ayako gasped, quickly going to Mai’s side. 

Bou-san’s voice rang loudly through the room, his chant echoing against the walls. The woman stopped moving. Her body pressed into the tatami mats, writhing in agony as Bou-san’s counter spell assaulted her spirit. Then, without a sound, she dissolved into the floor. Left in her place were the two missing heads from the dolls, their painted eyes staring unnervingly at them.

“Dolls,” Ayako groaned and helped Mai stand. “Are you okay?”

“You’re really good at getting attacked, aren’t you?” Bou-san asked, panting.

“I’m okay,” Mai said to Ayako. 

John stooped to pick up the two doll heads and looked at them. “Where did these come from?”

Madoka came to the threshold. “There are two dolls here missing their heads,” she said to John.

“Please,” Ayako put in. “Give them their heads back. Dolls are creepy enough without being headless on top of it.”

John handed Madoka the heads and she inserted them back into the headless dolls.

“I wonder why the ghost had the dolls’ heads,” Masako murmured, watching the dolls from the corner of her dark eyes. 

“Who knows?” Lin remarked.

Yasuhara was just standing there, oddly silent.

Suddenly, there was a clicking noise and then a grinding. A small drawer slid out of the front of the doll stand, lying inside the drawer was a small brass key engraved with a butterfly design. Madoka plucked it out, looking the key over. The moment she removed the key, the drawer slammed shut with a bang.

“I am getting really tired of all these things banging shut suddenly,” Ayako said and hugged Mai close, petting Mai’s chestnut tresses with her ruined manicure. 

“Me too,” Mai said with a sigh. “Can we get out of here?”

Lin tucked the book under his arm. “Yes, let’s go,” he said to the group.

Madoka pocketed the butterfly key.

Bou-san gathered up Mai, Masako, Ayako, and John. Madoka grasped Yasuhara’s flannel sleeve and tugged him forward. Everyone followed Lin as he lead them downstairs and back through the great hall. There was a puddle of blood in the middle of the floor where there hadn’t been one before. Yasuhara suddenly pulled away from Madoka and walked over to the bloodstain. He stopped there, staring at something no one could see—not even Masako with her abilities. 

“Yasuhara?” Lin called. He grasped the young high school student by his wrist and pulled him away. “Come on,” he said to Yasuhara. “Let’s go.”

Without further issue, they managed to make their way back towards the entrance of the Kurosawa house. Bou-san tried the door, but it was firmly closed as if a powerful force was holding it shut. John splashed some holy water on the door and said some prayers. Bou-san hurled himself at the door a few times, but it didn’t budge.

“We’re going to need to find another way out,” Madoka put in.

“No shit,” Bou-san ground out.

Ayako punched him in the arm. “Enough with the language. Relax.”

Bou-san took a deep breath. “I’m sorry Madoka.”

“It’s okay. We’re all a little stressed out,” she said.

“We need to find Naru,” Masako added suddenly.

“Alright,” Lin said calmly. “Let’s head back the way we came. There has to be another way out of here.”

They were walking back down the hallway away from the entrance when Mai remembered the locked door to the right painted with the image of a crimson butterfly. “Madoka, let me see that key you got from the doll stand,” Mai said.

“This?” Madoka asked, but handed it over.

Mai took the key and, after a moment of struggling with the rusted lock, unlocked the door.

“Way to go, Mai,” Bou-san said and entered the new area first. “It’s some kind of storage room,” he called back to them when no one immediately followed him. “Come on in.”

The others piled in behind him, crowding together in the small space. Masako looked pale and she was leaning on John who still looked as mercifully calm as he had when this case had been handed to them. John must have been a saint in a past life. Mai and Ayako were walking side by side, each looking around at everything closely. Madoka had taken hold of Yasuhara’s elbow and he was walking beside her in a sort of daze, his face pale. Lin, carrying the backpack, brought up the rear. If only they could find Naru… then they would all be together again.

Bou-san clapped Yasuhara on the back. “Kid, are you okay?”

Yasuhara coughed and his expression cleared abruptly. “I’m fine. Why?” Then, he looked around the room, his eyes wide, stunned. “Where are we?”

Mai’s brow furrowed. It was just like when Naru had been with her in the courtyard. He had no memory of anything that had happened. Then, he vanished. Mai didn’t want to lose Yasuhara and reached out to take his hand. She didn’t want Yasuhara to disappear again. 

He glanced at her, confused, but squeezed her fingers anyway. 

“You don’t remember how you got here?” Ayako asked him.

He shook his head and pushed his glasses farther up his nose.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Madoka asked.

“I was… sitting on the hill with Mai and Bou-san. We were talking and then… nothing. I can’t remember anything after that,” Yasuhara explained.

“You were possessed,” Masako said gently.

His eyes widened. “Possessed?” he repeated. He glanced at Bou-san and Mai for confirmation, his eyes begging that this was all a big game.

Mai shook her head. “No, you were possessed by the spirit of a woman in a bloody kimono.”

“A bloody kimono?” Yasuhara asked her.

Bou-san nodded. “Yeah, with insane laughter,” he supplied.

“I don’t remember any of that,” he said.

“That’s common with possession,” Masako told Yasuhara, “unless you’re a medium.”

“Okay,” Yasuhara said, but he still looked rattled. Mai supposed it wasn’t everyday you were possessed and moved halfway across a village, even when you worked with ghost hunters. She squeezed his hand comfortingly—she knew what he was going through. She had been through some hell on this job, too.

“Let’s keep moving,” Lin said and gave the small group a nudge from behind further into the darkness of the unlocked room.

**X X X**

Questions, comments, concerns? 


	9. The Altar Room and the Cell

I really like the way this is coming out.

**Day One, Endless Night**

Koujo Lin didn’t want anyone to know about the book he had found in the small guestroom near the doll room until they found Naru. The information inside was troubling at the very least. The small tome was more like a journal full of notes rather than an actual book, but it was written by a folklorist, Makabe Seijuro, all about All God’s Village and its rituals.

The tome was divided into short chapters, each with a different topic.

_“The Ceremony Master, Kurosawa-san, welcomed me warmly. This village has no chief. Instead, its day to day matters are presided over by the Ceremony Master. I wonder if this village was founded by people who wanted nothing more than to preserve their rituals and customs. Most notable among the folklore in All God’s Village is the “Gate to Hell” legend. It is an archetypal legend of a gate or hole that marks the border to the World of the Dead. It is feared and hated, but also worshipped. The Forbidden Ritual that takes place here, regarding this gate, is something that no one is allowed to see or speak of. The strict taboo is probably the result of the belief that the ceremony concerns the border of Hell coming closer to the living world.”_

_“The deity statues in the area are strange in that they are not Guardian Gods at all, but carvings of Twin Shrine Maidens. Yet the children say that the statues all honor the Gods of the village. There’s also a book in this house that relates the statuettes to something called the “Crimson Sacrifice.” Could this Crimson Sacrifice be related to the Forbidden Ritual? And what is it?”_

_“For several days now, earthquakes are occurring with increasing frequency. They are stirring up swarms of crimson butterflies. Anyone who sees the butterflies immediately kneels and begins to pray. In fact, the entire village has an aura of impending doom. I wonder if it would be best for me to leave, but I am too curious. Perhaps this Crimson Sacrifice Ritual is done to purify the ground. In the past, every culture had some type of ceremony involving sacrifices to try to calm the Gods. Someone told me, ‘The Twin Shrine Maidens had become crimson butterflies and are returning to the village to protect it.’”_

_“All the village’s records have been stored inside the Ceremony Master’s house. I have discovered that the Forbidden Ritual is also called the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual—they are one in the same. Twins are used to help seal the Gate to Hell. There are two parts to the ceremony. The first is the Visible Ceremony, which occurs periodically, and if it fails, the Hidden Ceremony is performed. If the ceremonies fail, the gate will open, the dead will pour out, and the skies will go dark. This disaster is called the Repentance.”_

_“I thought it was strange that two houses so close together would be connected by a bridge. It didn’t seem worth the trouble, but everything has a purpose. The Kiryu and Tachibana houses are linked this way and referred to as the “Twin Houses.” The Twin Shrine Maidens (or Altar Twins, if male twins are used) will stay there before the ceremony. They are not allowed to go outside before the ceremony, but may pass between the two houses via the bridge and a passageway beneath the houses. The bridge is called the Heaven Bridge and the passage in the basement is called the Earth Bridge. This passage is part of a cave system that runs beneath the entire village. At its deepest part lies a forbidden place. It seems that the Gate to Hell is there and the Forbidden Ritual is actually performed underground.”_

_“The twin girls of the Kurosawa family gave me a map that shows a side door in the Kurosawa house and a key. They told me that the Hidden Ceremony is near and that I should escape through the door during the night. They seemed to be very afraid for me, but left so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to ask them more. Everyone else seems to be acting normally. Could there be some ulterior motive for the generous hospitality that they have shown me?”_

_“I found a map detailing underground passageways among the old books in the Kurosawa house. It looks like there might be a secret way out of the village, accessible through the shrine grounds, but it appears to have been sealed a long time ago.”_

_“The twin girls were right. I should have left when I had the chance… I have been captured and imprisoned by the Ceremony Master, Kurosawa-san, who was so kind originally. I found out that long ago, a lost visitor came to the village and was used as a ceremonial sacrifice. The words used to describe him in the books were hard to read, but I could make out “Outsider” and “Kusabi.” What exactly is the nature of the Hidden Ceremony? What is to become of me? The key the twin girls gave me must be for the secret exit of this house. But the key for this cell is hidden in another house. According to the books, it is hidden in the cave under the Osaka House. It seems a lot of trouble to go through…”_

_“As expected, the jailer won’t tell me anything. In fact, he won’t even say a word. It’s a total reversal of the treatment I got them I arrived to All God’s Village. I guess this is the real reason I was invited here—to become a Kusabi, a sacrifice. This cell is also used to store documents. I will continue my research, though I doubt anyone will ever see it…_

_“I discovered two important things. One, the Hellish Abyss. It is unclear how long this hole that connects our world to the underworld has existed, but they say that if it is opened, it will cause terrible disaster. The suffering of the sacrifice is used to seal the Hellish Abyss. Two, the Mourners. They are the guardians of the Hellish Abyss and are the only ones allowed near it. When the ceremony arrives, they sew their eyes shut so that they cannot glimpse the Hellish Abyss. Afterwards, they live underground and never return to the surface. What can be so terrible that looking at it is forbidden?”_

_“I have discovered information about the Twin Shrine Maidens. They are sacrificed in the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual. (Boys are sometimes used as well and are called Altar Twins.) The people of this region believe that twins were once a single being which was split in two at birth. The ceremony acts on the belief, that if they are reunited as one, they will gain the power of a God. The text says that the older twin must strangle the younger twin and throw the body into the Hellish Abyss. How truly horrible…”_

_“Activity outside the cell is bustling. It seems that the time of the Hidden Ceremony is near. If the Gate to Hell known at the Hellish Abyss really does exist, I will be able to see it tomorrow with my own eyes. Even if I am to be thrown into it as a sacrifice, I am at least happy that I can see this forbidden place at last.”_

If that was true, Naru could be in grave danger. Though Gene was dead, Naru was still a twin and there was no reason the spirit of his dead twin brother could not return. If the village planned to use Naru and Gene as sacrifices… Lin didn’t want to think about that.

“Lin?” Madoka’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. “Is something wrong?”

He shook his head and turned his attention back to the matter at hand. They had to find Naru and they had to get out of this house. Then, they had to find a way to leave the village.

Ayako and Mai had climbed up the small staircase to the partition screen room above, but there was nothing there and they came down again, rejoining the others. Suddenly, a crimson ball fell from the ceiling, bounced a few times, and then rolled into a dark corner.

“There are children here,” Masako whispered. 

“Let’s keep moving,” Bou-san said. He led them through the small storage room into a hallway that was hung with dark cloths, blowing faintly with some unnatural breeze. The effect was unnerving and a little bit strange. Why was the hall so hung with cloth like someone had died? Then again, the entire village had been massacred.

“Creepy,” Yasuhara said, his voice echoing down the hallway a short ways before the cloth muffled it.

“Let’s go,” Ayako said, giving them both a push from behind.

Bou-san tried the double doors to the left, but they didn’t open more than a few inches. A shrill child’s giggle slid through the opening in the doorway, sending a shiver down Bou-san’s spine. He put his hip against the door and shoved it open. The child cried out and he threw open the door, but there were no children in sight. 

The room they found themselves in was huge, lit with row after row of bright orange lanterns within the lattice shelves that lined the walls and partially divided the room. Just in front of them was a small altar with the crest of a crimson butterfly drawn on the glossy Mediterranean wood, set with candles and incense. It was beautiful.

“It’s the family altar room,” Yasuhara explained, joining Bou-san in the threshold.

“This place is huge,” John said, peeking at the three staircases just within the family altar room—two going down and one going up. “Do you think we should split up?”

Madoka and Lin joined them. 

“What do you think, Lin?” Bou-san asked. “Should we split up?”

“I’m not sure if it’s safe, but there’s so much area to search and we don’t have much time,” the Chinese man said. “I think it would be best to split up, but everyone has to be incredibly careful. Understand Here’s the breakdown,” Lin continued. “Bou-san, Masako, Yasuhara, and I will search this room and the surrounding area. Mai, Ayako, John, and Madoka will go on ahead. Sound good?” 

They all nodded, agreeing. 

No one wanted to lose anyone again.

…

Mai, Ayako, John, and Madoka continued down the cloth hallway away from the family altar room until they reached a small warehouse. There was a wooden cell lined with book cases, a small desk, and lit up with several flickering candles. Sitting patiently inside the cell, his legs crossed neatly in front of him, books spread all around, was Naru.

“Naru!” Mai gasped, suddenly unspeakably happy that she had been put in this group rather than Masako. She threw herself down outside the heavy wooden lattice of the cell and reached through the opening at the black-clad youth. She had half-expected him to ignore her hands, but he must have been locked in there a long time because he reached for her and grasped her fingers. His skin was so cold… “Naru,” Mai whispered. “Are you okay?”

Madoka joined Mai at the bars and also reached through. Naru took her hands as well, his mouth pulling in a faint display of a smile. “Naru, are you okay?” Madoka asked and rubbed his fingers between her own. “You’re freezing. Why didn’t you try to get out?”

“It’s locked,” Naru said. “Besides, I knew you guys would come looking for me.”

John and Ayako were having a look at the cell’s small door, murmuring. Ayako pulled at the door, clawed at the lock, and tried picking it with a file. It rattled all the while, but didn’t move. John tried next, splashing some holy water on it and saying his prayers. Then, he gave it a fierce kick. Normally, that was all it took to open a door for their team, but the door to the cell remained firmly closed and locked.

“We’re going to need to find the key,” John said to Naru and the others.

Naru nodded. “I figured as much. The villagers really want to keep me here,” he said. 

“The villagers?” Mai asked.

“They’ve been coming and going through here, talking about performing the ritual. They don’t want to take any chances. From what I understand, the last set of twins they tried to use managed to escape them,” Naru explained. He plucked his hands from Madoka and Mai and leafed through one of the old books. Apparently, he didn’t find what he was looking for because he closed it and moved through the small cell to the desk. He picked up one of the candlesticks and a piece of paper and a key fell out.

“Twins?” Ayako asked Naru.

He ignored her question pointedly.

“What’s that?” Mai asked him.

He patiently passed the map and the key to Mai, letting her open up the map and lay it out on the floor for the others to crowd around.

“It looks like a map of this house,” Madoka said. “And it points out and exit. See, this is the cell right here. And the key must unlock the door to get out.”

Naru nodded. 

“Okay,” Ayako said. “Here’s what we need to do. We need to tell the others that we’ve found a way out and we need to find the key to Naru’s cell.” She glanced at John, Madoka, and Mai. “Do you think we should split up again?”

“Won’t it be dangerous?” Madoka asked. “Lin put us in these groups for a reason.”

“Plus I think someone should stay here with Naru,” John said. “Just in case something happens.”

“And there won’t be even numbers if we split up like that,” Ayako said. 

Naru broke in. “John can go and look for the key to the cell. I found a small note that leads me to believe the key is hidden in the underground basement of the Osaka house.”

“But you searched the Osaka house with Lin and Madoka. Did you find a key?” John asked.

Naru shook his head. “But I heard strange noises behind the wall in the family altar room. I believe there is a secret staircase that leads down into a cave,” he explained to John.

“There was a note in Sudo Miyako’s journal about strange noises behind the wall, too,” Madoka added.

John nodded. “Alright. I’ll go look for the key,” he said.

“But—” Mai broke in.

Naru cut her off. “John is the only one capable of protecting himself. Ayako certainly isn’t—”

“Hey!” the self-claimed miko protested.

“Neither are you or Madoka,” Naru continued, ignoring her. “The best thing we could do in this situation is let John go on ahead in search of the key. Ayako, Madoka, and Mai, you guys go back and find the others. You can send Lin back to me and keep searching the house.”

“But you’ll be alone,” Mai protested.

“Only for a few minutes. I’ll be fine,” Naru told her.

“Let me stay with you,” Mai insisted.

“It’s not safe for you to be alone here,” Naru said.

“Only for a few minutes,” Mai mocked. “I’ll be fine.”

Naru glared at her, but there was nothing more he could say. For once, she had pinned him in an argument. He sighed in defeat, sliding Mai a look through his dark bangs. “Just hurry,” he said to Madoka and Ayako. “And good luck, John.”

Ayako, Madoka, and John nodded and each scampered off in their own directions, except Mai who made herself comfortable sitting beside the door of the wooden cell. Naru was grumpily silent, not happy with losing or being locked up. He went behind the bookcase and Mai could hear him flipping pages. She smiled to herself. Maybe everything would work out okay after all. They had found Yasuhara and now Naru. All that was left was to find a way out of this cursed village.

**X X X**

And I give up on you, Angel-Hime-Chan, mixed array, Hermina05, and PinkyRocks. You are all just mean. Know that I am DISAPPOINTED in you for not reviewing, but liking my story enough to favorite and alert. How sad and mean some people can be… :’(

Questions, comments, concerns?


	10. Twins? The Crimson Sacrifice

Nothing to report.

**Day One, Endless Night**

John wet his dry lips, tucked the map and key into his pocket, and headed off down the hallway as the map indicated until he came to a staircase going deep down into an earthen basement of the Kurosawa house. There was a well in the center, cool damp air wafting up, and a single lamp burning in the far corner. John tried to switch on his flashlight, but it wouldn’t work, even after had banged on it a few times. The priest groped through the darkness until he reached the dim lamp. 

There was another staircase there, going up again.

John climbed the stairs quickly and halted at the top. There was a door there, cool fresh night air blowing in through the cracks in the threshold. He unlocked the door with the key Naru had found and spilled out into the night beyond. He was in the Kurosawa house’s front courtyard, the house looming behind him and blocking out the moonlight. It was cold in the shadow and he shivered, taking a few steps forward. The door he had just come out of slammed shut with a loud bang.

The exorcist jumped and whirled around, startled, but there was no one standing in the deep shadow with him. 

He was purely alone.

Heaving a deep breath, he forced himself to ignore the chills traveling up and down his spine and keep going. The sooner he got the key, the sooner they got Naru out of that cell, and the sooner they could leave this place. The gravel crunched under his shoes, the only sound in the silence save the undulating of the black water a short distance away. 

Then, suddenly, there was a light feminine laugh behind him.

John froze, his fingers tightening on his bottle of holy water. “Who’s there?” he demanded, turning to face the sound.

He was alone in the courtyard.

Taking a deep breath, he hurried his pace along. He tried to keep his mind on the task at hand—find the key to Naru’s cell, find the key to the cell, find the key, find the key, find the key… John hurried, his footsteps sounding noisily on the wooden planks of the bridge. 

Someone laughed again, a soft insane sound. 

This time, John ignored it.

There was a peel of insane laughter again, echoing strangely. Then, he heard a strange wail, moaning in complete agony.

John whirled around, his prayers on his lips.

The young woman in the bloody white kimono was standing right behind him. Her face was twisted in a horrible smile, her throat marked by a dark bruise, and her hands were stained with blood. She reached for John, throwing her head back and laughing wildly. 

John stumbled backwards and splashed her with holy water.

Her laughter choked off and she shrank back from him. Then, her bloodstained white figure swirled like smoke and then vanished without a trace. Silence reigned again, broken only by the sound of the water moving beneath the bridge. 

John sighed in relief, lowering his hands, and turned to continue on his mission—find the key! Headlong, he collided with the woman in white again. This time, she grabbed him by the shoulders and her touch was like death. The ice spread through John’s entire body and darkness crept in at the edges of his vision. He tried to pray, but his voice was frozen. There was nothing he could do. The last thing he saw was the young woman’s pale face, her head tipping back in insane laughter as he crumbled to his knees at her feet. Then, the whole world went black.

…

Bou-san, Lin, Masako, and Yasuhara entered the family altar room. They spread out since the room was so big and they would all be able to see each other, though Yasuhara nervously stuck close to Bou-san. He did not want to be possessed again.

“Get a load of this,” Bou-san called and picked up a small journal from the altar. He leafed through it. “It’s notes from a Ceremony Master or something, one Kurosawa-san.”

Lin’s heart jumped into his throat. He didn’t want them to know about the danger Naru might be in, but it was too late to stop them now. Bou-san had handed Yasuhara the notebook and the high school student began to read it out loud.

_“The Malice coming from the Hellish Abyss is getting stronger. I’ve searched and searched, but there is no record of it ever being this strong in the past. Recently, there have been poor harvests and strange deaths have begun to increase. The time of the Repentance for Itsuki and Mutsuki’s failure is near. Half of the Mourners were driven mad and threw themselves into the Hellish Abyss. We must prepare more Mourners—we’ll have to use the sinners and criminals. If we don’t hurry, the Malice will overflow. I must… use my daughters in the Ritual. Sae and Yae, I’m sorry, but it’s for the village.”_

_“The Outsider, Makabe Seijuro, visited with perfect timing. I will use him for the Hidden Ceremony, turn him into a Kusabi, and use him to pacify the Hellish Abyss. We must ensure he doesn’t escape before that. I know Yae and Sae do not want anyone else to die. Neither does Itsuki. Could the three of them be planning something?”_

_“Yae and Sae, my precious girls… When they were born, I was miserable knowing that they were doomed. I raised them freely, without pain or sadness, but after the Ritual is performed… the remaining twin says the pain never stops. The elder twin must kill the younger in the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual. It’s a cruel horrible fate. I wish I could let them go, both of them, but they are needed to seal the Hellish Abyss. I’m sorry, girls… I’m so sorry.”_

_“Sae and Yae have run away with the help of that boy, Itsuki, a Remaining. The sacrifice of the Kusabi calmed the Hellish Abyss a little, but it is still rumbling. If the twins aren’t brought back, the village will be swallowed by hell. They are my daughters. I must find them.”_

_“Yae… she is not coming back. Did she really leave Sae behind? Did she die in the forest? If Sae if cleansed and acts as Shrine Maiden alone, the Hellish Abyss might not be appeased. The records do not mention rituals with a single Shrine Maiden, alone, but I will do it. I have to try! Yae… why did you run? Why won’t you come back?”_

“That’s it,” Yasuhara said. “It ends there. I wonder what happened.”

“The Ritual must have failed,” Masako said, “Because the village vanished and everyone was massacred on the night of a ceremony.”

Bou-san nodded and handed the notebook over to Lin to put into his backpack. “Let’s keep looking,” he said. “Lin, why don’t you go upstairs and I’ll take Masako and Yasuhara and go search downstairs?”

Lin nodded. “Alright.” 

Then, the Chinese man waited a moment for the other three to head downstairs before re-reading the Ceremony Master’s notes. If the village was already dead, did he really have to worry for Naru? Common sense said no, but his gut said otherwise. Lin had a bad feeling about things to come.

…

Madoka and Ayako went into the family altar room. It was a beautiful room, lit up with countless amber lanterns and with the altar resting in the center of the room. To the right and left, there were two twin staircases going down. Just behind the first one to the left was another staircase going up to the second floor. The altar room was deserted otherwise, but they could hear the others’ voices coming from somewhere. 

“Should we split up again?” Ayako asked Madoka.

Madoka looked at the staircase upstairs. “I think Lin is up there,” she said and then turned to look at Ayako. “If you go downstairs, I’ll go up here.”

“Sounds good,” Ayako said. “If something happens, scream and I’m sure someone will hear you.”

Madoka nodded and quickly climbed the stairs. Upstairs, as she had suspected, Lin was pouring over the contents of an octagonal bookcase, his dark eyes darting furiously across the pages. The room was eerie though, with statues of demons and dark blood-colored lanterns. “This is creepy,” she said. Her voice was loud and startled Lin. 

“Madoka, what are you doing here?” he asked.

“We found Naru. He’s locked in a cell nearby. And we found the way out.”

“And you left him there?” Lin asked, his voice rising a pitch. Madoka was the only one he had told about the Crimson Sacrifice and that the villagers probably wanted to use Naru to complete it, Gene or no Gene. “Madoka, you know he’s a twin and it’s dangerous for him.”

Madoka shook her head. “Mai stayed with him, Ayako and I came back to tell you guys, and John left the Kurosawa house to look for the key to the cell.”

Lin nodded in relief. Mai wasn’t much in the way of defense, but she was stubborn as a mule, wouldn’t leave Naru come hell or high water, and had a sixth sense like a wild animal. She had often known something was going to happen even before it did. “Good,” he said.

“So, how’s it going?” Madoka asked him.

“As well as to be expected,” Lin said. “We’re trapped in this village and the ghosts want to use Naru to appease their Hellish Abyss. We need to hurry and get out of this place before something happens that can’t be undone.”

“Don’t worry,” Madoka said gently and placed her hand on Lin’s shoulder. “We’ll get through. We’ve been through worse scraps than this.”

He glanced at her with his one visible eye and a smile pull at the corner of his lips. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said.

…

Ayako turned away from Madoka, chose the staircase to the left, and descended into the darkness below. She tried to turn on her flashlight, but it stubbornly refused to work. She called for Bou-san, Masako, and Yasuhara and groped her way down. There was a door at the bottom which opened into a long dimly lit hallway. Ayako hurried down the hallway, calling for Bou-san and the others. At the end, there was another staircase going up and Ayako was beginning to feel like a lab rat caught in a maze. She reached the top of the stairs and found herself in the open night air.

“Finally,” Ayako said and sighed in relief. 

Bou-san, Masako, and Yasuhara had divided themselves into two groups and had gone up the twin connecting bridges that led to a distant octagonal temple. Masako was alone on one side, trying to open the door. Bou-san and Yasuhara were on the other side, having a similar problem. They were calling to each other, arguing out of frustration rather than anger.

“Try stepping on the plate in the floor again, Masako,” Bou-san called to the medium.

The dark-haired medium released the door and stepped back onto the plate, but it didn’t move at all. Bou-san pushed Yasuhara onto the plate on their side and then tried to open the door again. Still nothing, the doors remained firmly locked from the inside.

“Okay,” Bou-san said, “I give up. This temple can keep its secrets.”

“Hey!” Ayako shouted to them, cupping her hands around her mouth.

“Ayako, what are you doing here?” Bou-san said and began leading his group back down the divided twin bridges towards her. “Where’s Madoka and Mai? In fact, where’s John? Please, don’t tell me something happened!”

“Relax,” the miko said. “Nothing’s happened except we found the way out and Naru.”

Masako’s eyes widened, her cheeks going pink. “You found Naru?”

“Yup, he’s locked in a cell just down the hall,” Ayako told them. 

“Locked in a cell?” Yasuhara repeated. 

“John went to look for the key and Mai stayed with Naru. Madoka’s looking for Lin and I came to get you,” Ayako said. “Make sense to you?”

Bou-san nodded. “Alright. Things are looking up. Let’s go,” he said to the others. 

They fell into step behind him and they all headed back towards the family altar room. Ayako discovered that the hallways and the corridors leading to the temple were clearly arranged for twins. The staircases in the family altar room, one to the left and one to the right, each led to an identical hallway below that let out into this open courtyard. Then, from the courtyard, there were two identical bridge-like pathways leading to two identical doors that opened into the octagonal temple.

“How weird,” Ayako remarked. “What’s the deal with the twins in this area? The gods are Twin Deities and the houses are arranged for twins. And what about the crimson butterflies?”

“And the Crimson Sacrifice,” Bou-san put in. 

“What’s that?” Ayako asked him.

“It’s some kind of ceremony in which twins are used to seal the Hellish Abyss. The older twin kills the younger one,” Bou-san explained to Ayako. “Along with an Outsider who is turned into a Kusabi, whatever that means.”

“How horrible…” Ayako murmured.

…

Mai leaned back against the lattice of Naru’s cell, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. She was so tired. She wondered what time it was and how long they had been trapped in All God’s Village. It felt like an eternity, but it had probably only been a few hours.

“Naru?” she whispered.

“What?” he asked, dignifying her with an answer. He had been grouchily silent for several minutes now, leafing through some books.

“I… I know about you.”

He stopped leafing. “What do you mean?”

“I know about your twin, about Gene,” Mai said softly. “Do you really think the ghosts are going to try to use you and Gene for their Ritual?”

“Gene is dead, Mai. I don’t think they could even if they wanted to.”

“But… I dream about Gene,” Mai murmured. “And Madoka told me.”

“You dream about him?”

She nodded and tucked some chestnut hair behind her ear.

“Why do you think that means anything?”

“I don’t know. I just… have a bad feeling.”

“Is it your intuition?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I really don’t know,” Mai murmured, shaking her head.

Naru reached through the lattice bars and rested his hand on Mai’s shoulder. “Everything’s going to be okay,” he assured her.

“I hope so,” she said and resisted the urge to lay her hand over his.

“Unless Gene can somehow come back, everything will be okay. Even if they want, I’m not a twin without him,” Naru murmured.

“Yeah…”

They sat in silence together, the cold of Naru’s hand seeping into Mai’s shoulder. 

“You’re so cold,” she murmured.

“It’s because there are so many ghosts in this place,” he told her. 

Mai grasped his cold hand between her warm ones and began to rub gently, trying to bring some warmth back into his cold flesh. His fingers were so long and thin, fragile-looking, with such pale skin that Mai’s lightly-tanned skin looked dark by comparison. She ran her thumb over his palm and he shivered. Then, there were footsteps in the hallway and Mai released his hand before he even had a chance to pull away from her. Then, she clambered to her feet and went to greet their friends.

**X X X**

Man, these chapters are all coming out consistently long.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	11. The Whispering Bridge

It's so nice here.

**Day One, Endless Night**

The six of them regrouped with Mai in front of Naru’s cell. Masako spent a moment fawning over Naru, but he wasn’t too interested in her which made Mai unspeakably happy. Naru was more interested in talking to Lin, interrogating him about the information they had uncovered so far and telling him the things Naru had found out while imprisoned in the cell. Bou-san had a go at unlocking the cell door, but had about as much luck as John had. Naru was still trapped.

“Naru,” Madoka said suddenly. “I think… you should tell everyone about…”

Naru silenced her with a look, but it was too late.

“Tell us what?” Bou-san asked, catching the train of conversation.

Naru sighed. “Being that Madoka just let the cat out of the bag, I guess I have no choice.”

“I’m sorry,” Madoka said softly.

“I think it’s best, too, Naru,” Lin put in.

Naru was outnumbered and everyone was staring at him through the bars of the cell. With a heavy sigh of defeat for the second time that day, he told his team, “Lin and Madoka are concerned about what might happen to me here because I used to be a twin.”

Mai saw Masako’s face fall and wondered if that was the information she had been holding over Naru’s head. No more dates for you, Mai thought snippily, grinning despite the situation.

“Wait, what do you mean ‘used to’?” Ayako asked.

“My twin brother was hit by a car and killed a few years ago so, technically, I’m not a twin anymore,” Naru explained. 

“The Crimson Sacrifice Ritual,” Bou-san said softly. “Oh man…”

“What?” Yasuhara asked, not catching on. “If Naru’s twin is dead, what’s the problem?”

Bou-san slung his arm around Yasuhara’s shoulders. “Kid, where are we right now?”

“A ghost village… oh!”

“Exactly,” Ayako said and patted Yasuhara on the back. “What’s to stop these spirits from somehow summoning the soul of Naru’s dead twin back? If they want to perform this Ritual badly enough, it would be possible.”

Then, Yasuhara asked, “Naru, what was your twin’s name?”

“Gene,” Naru said.

Lin removed the books he had gathered since their arrival—Sudo Miyako’s journal, Makabe Seijuro’s research, and the Ceremony Master’s notes—and passed them around for the team to read. Silence stretched between them and Naru actually looked a little pale as they all considered what this information exactly meant to the case. Naru was a twin and this village used twins to seal the Gate to Hell. What did that mean for Naru? Was his life in danger? What could they do to protect him?

**…X…**

Bou-san’s watch read 11:49 p.m., a little more than six hours had passed since they found themselves trapped inside All God’s Village. The last forty-five minutes had been spent waiting for John’s return, but the young exorcist still hadn’t returned with the key. In fact, he hadn’t returned at all. They were all starting to worry.

“Let’s give him fifteen more minutes and then I vote we go after him,” Bou-san said.

“I agree,” Ayako said. “I’m getting worried.”

“We can’t leave Naru here alone,” Madoka put in. 

“We know,” Bou-san said. “I think Mai, Masako, Yasuhara, Ayako, and myself should go after John. That way, if we need to, we’ll have enough people to split up safely. Lin and Madoka can stay here with Naru and make sure he doesn’t get away.”

Naru glared at the monk, his glacial eyes hard and cold.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Lin agreed. “What time is it now?”

“Ten of midnight,” Mai said, her eyes glued to Bou-san’s watch.

“It’s still dark out,” Ayako said with a sigh. “I’m beginning to think this night is never going to end.”

“It might not,” Yasuhara said. “If this village repeats the night of its death over and over, they could be trapped within a never-ending night.”

“Technically, it’s almost our second day here,” Bou-san said. “We’ll give John until midnight and then we’ll go after him, okay?”

Everyone nodded.

**…X…**

Mai was dozing lightly, resting against Ayako’s side. Masako was sitting on Ayako’s other side, her legs folded under her and her hands together in restful meditation. Yasuhara was wide awake, his eyes bright behind his glasses. Naru had handed the teenager some books through the lattice and now he was busy doing what he did best—research. Bou-san had his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes closed to rest. Madoka and Lin were whispering to Naru, but no one was really paying them any attention. 

Midnight rolled around and John still hadn’t returned. 

Bou-san got to his feet and brushed the dust off his ass. “Alright,” he said. “Let’s go all! Madoka, Lin, Naru, we’ll be back. Don’t go anywhere, Naru-bou,” he joked.

Naru glared at him. “The prison jokes are getting old, Bou-san.”

“Alright, alright,” Bou-san relented and helped Mai and Ayako to their feet. “Come on, guys.”

Then, Bou-san led Ayako, Masako, Mai, and Yasuhara down the hallway to the staircase at the end. Together, they all descended into the basement of the Kurosawa house. There was a well in the middle of the room, musty air wafting up from inside the well, and a single lamp glowing in the distant corner.

“Mai, stay away from the well,” Bou-san said teasingly.

Mai stuck her tongue out at him, but it was lost in the darkness. 

At the lantern, there was another staircase going up. A shaft of moonlight speared into the dimness at the top of the stairs and a cool breeze blew down the staircase at them. John had clearly come through this way, but he hadn’t come back. They trooped up the staircase and spilled out into the Kurosawa house’s front courtyard, taking in grateful breaths of fresh air after the musty underground basement. Then, they looked around, searching for signs of John. The courtyard was empty though and Bou-san guided everyone towards the bridge.

Ayako, who was heading up the group, stopped dead in her tracks. “No!” she gasped.

“What is it?” Bou-san asked, looking over the tops of everyone’s heads.

John’s body was lying on the bridge, unmoving.

Ayako bolted to his side, quickly rolled him over, and took his pulse. 

Mai was at his side next, skinning her bare knees on the rough planks of the bridge. “Is he okay?” she asked.

“He’s breathing, but he’s very cold,” Ayako said. “Bou-san, give me your jacket. Yasuhara, you too!”

Both young men pulled off their coats and handed them over to Ayako. With Mai’s assistance, Ayako wrestled John’s limp body into Bou-san’s oversized fleece-lined jacket and covered his legs with Yasuhara’s flannel shirt. Then, she wrapped her arms around John’s cold body and tried to will some of her body heat into him.

“What do we do?” Bou-san asked.

“He can’t stay out in the cold like this,” Ayako said. “Somehow, we need to bring him inside.”

A cold wet hand wrapped around Mai’s ankle and she froze, her eyes widening and a shiver jolting through her body. Something was… touching her… gripping her ankle. The water was lapping behind her and she was suddenly very aware of the broken portion of the bride just to her left. Had someone been pulled into the water? Had someone drowned here? What if…?

Masako looked at her, her dark eyes questioning. “Mai, is something wrong?”

Mai shivered, her teeth chattering. “Something is…”

Bou-san turned his attention from John to Mai. “Hey, are you okay, jou-chan?”

Then, the icy hand yanked and Mai was pulled down into the black water with a splash. Luckily, the water wasn’t as cold as she had expected, but it sucked the air from her lungs all the same. Despite the darkness in the water, Mai could make out the figure of a woman in a white modern-style dress leering at her through the water. She tried to scream, but only bubbles escaped. The surface… it looked so far away. Would she die here?

Bou-san lunged down onto his belly, both hands in the water seconds after Mai had been pulled in. He felt some hair, fisted his fingers in it, and dragged Mai to the surface. Only… it wasn’t Mai. The woman’s face was wrinkled from being in the water so long, her hair knotted with seaweed and sticks, and her dress clung to her body. The fabric was so pale that he could see the contours of her ribs and the dark smudges of her nipples through the white cloth. 

She opened her mouth, a scream exploding from her. “It’s cold! I can’t breathe! Pull me up! Save me! Save me!” the drowned woman howled.

Bou-san shouted his counter spell ad the woman flew back from him, splashing into the water several feet away. He plunged his hands back into the water, searching out Mai in the darkness. He felt warmth touch his hand and clamped his fingers down on Mai’s. Then, he hauled her to the surface, crushed her to his chest, and they both collapsed on the bridge, panting.

“Thanks,” Mai panted, clinging to him.

“No problem,” he said in return, rubbing her back.

Ayako handed Bou-san Yasuhara’s flannel shirt to wrap around Mai’s soaked body. “Are you okay, Mai?” 

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Mai said between deep breaths.. “Just wet and cold.”

“Alright,” Ayako said. “We need to get Mai and John back to the cell so they can rest and recover.”

“I’m okay,” Mai insisted. 

“You’re soaking wet!” Ayako shouted at Mai. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“I can take Mai back into the house,” Yasuhara offered. “And then come back to take John.”

“No way,” Bou-san said. “No one should be alone.” He pressed his fingers to his chin, thinking a moment. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll all go back to the cell together. Then, Lin and I will go back out together to get the key to Naru’s cell.”

“But then who will protect everyone?” Ayako asked. “I know you don’t have faith in me.”

“Sadly, you’re all we’ve got,” Bou-san said. 

Then, Bou-san gathered John’s cold body up in his arms. Yasuhara helped Mai to her feet, holding her close and warm against his side. Ayako and Masako brought up the rear, carefully watching their surroundings. Suddenly, this place was a lot more dangerous than any of them had ever suspected. Cautiously, they headed back to where Naru, Madoka, and Lin were waiting.

…

“What on earth happened?” Madoka asked, bolting to her feet to meet the group in the hallway when she saw them come straggling in. John being carried, his blond head lolling over Bou-san’s arm, and Mai leaning heavily on Yasuhara, leaving a wet trail of water in her wake. “Is everyone okay? What happened? Is John okay? Do you have the key?”

“No,” Yasuhara said about the key.

Bou-san took over the conversation. “We found John passed out on the bridge,” he explained. “Then, a ghost pulled Mai into the water.”

Lin took off his jacket and folded it into a pillow for John’s head and helped Bou-san lay the exorcist down beside the cell. Yasuhara helped Mai sit down just beside John and Madoka wrapped Mai in her jacket as well. Ayako knelt down beside John, took his pulse again and felt his forehead. Then, she took a bottle of water from Lin’s backpack and carefully poured some into John’s mouth. 

“Lin,” Bou-san said. “We need to get out of here and fast.”

The Chinese man nodded. “Everyone else, please stay here. We’ll be back as soon as possible,” he said. 

Then, Lin and Bou-san hurried down the hallway and back out of the house. Once they got the key to Naru’s cell, they could get out of here. Everyone else remained at Naru’s cell, huddled together tightly and nervously. Somewhere in the house, a door slammed and they heard the faint sound of a woman laughing. 

…

Together, the Chinese onmyoji and the monk from Mount Koya raced through the dark endless night. The sooner they got Naru out of that cell in the Kurosawa house, the sooner they could move on and try to escape this hellish village. If it came down to it, Lin was prepared to tear the sickle from the ruined doors of one of the houses and hack a path through the forest so they could get out. Bou-san didn’t care about the case anymore either. He just wanted everyone to get out of this place alive and well.

“Where’s the key to the cell?” Bou-san asked. 

“The Osaka house,” Lin said. 

“That’s the first house you guys investigated, isn’t it? How did you miss it?”

“It’s hidden in a secret basement behind the wall in the family altar room,” Lin explained. “We didn’t know about it.”

“Why hide the key so far from the cell?”

“Who knows.”

In silence, they continued running. Their feet were pounding, their long gaits and heavy breathing in sync as they ran. Overhead, the moon slipped behind a cloud and total darkness descended. Bou-san produced his flashlight and turned it on. For a split second, the beam played on the face of the young woman in the bloody kimono and a yelp escaped him. Lin whistled without even stopping. His shiki lashed through the air, tearing into the young woman’s ghostly figure. She vanished and they kept running.

  
**X X X**

Questions, comments, concerns?

Review!


	12. An Attempt to Leave

Man, they are really having trouble getting this key. You should all wish them luck!

**Day Two, Endless Night**

Bou-san and Lin exploded into the Osaka house. Bou-san didn’t know where the family altar room was in this house so he dropped back to let Lin lead the way. Without hesitation, Lin led Bou-san down the dirt floor hallway and into the family altar room. Bou-san was amazed at the mess of papers, books, and ruin that was strewn all over the floor, but Lin had heard about the ruin from Naru and chose to ignore it. He went right to the Osaka family’s altar and began searching for some kind of device that would open a secret passage. 

In the side of the sunken shelf where the altar was neatly arranged, Lin found a small pinwheel crest. He fiddled with it for a moment, pulling it out from the wall about an inch, rotating it a few times, and then pushing it back in when nothing happened. The moment he pushed the crest back into the wall, there was a grinding sound and the blank wooden wall just beside the altar creak open. Bou-san peered in a the dusty staircase going down and grinned at Lin.

“Nice guess,” he said.

Lin descended the staircase first, turning on his flashlight, with Bou-san on his heels. 

The air was cool and musty, reeking of earth and death. People must have hidden in this secret place when the disaster struck and they had probably died here, slaughtered by that woman in the bloody kimono or the male ghost Mai had told them about. Below the Osaka house, there was a small cavernous room. Boxes were heaped in the corners, rotten food supplies were patiently stacked beneath the stairs, and there was a tunnel in the distant wall, but it had caved in with a heap of rubble. 

“So, where’s the key?” Bou-san asked, his voice echoing against the stone walls. 

“Look for it,” Lin said and began opening boxes left and right. 

Bou-san went to the sight of the cave-in, drawn to it though he couldn’t be sure why. It was as if… something was calling to him, pushing him from behind, urging him on. He knelt beside the heap of rubble, not sure exactly what he was looking for, and then he saw it. An arm was sticking out from beneath the rocks, its gnarled fingers clenched around a rusted key. Smiling, Bou-san uncurled the fingers from the key and took it. 

“Lin,” he called. “I’ve got it!”

“That’s great, Bou—” Lin’s visible eye widened, his mouth falling open. 

“What is it?” Bou-san asked.

“The Ritual! It must be completed!” A strange garbled voice shouted, echoing strangely against the stone walls. “My eyes! Give them back to me! Give it all back!”

Bou-san looked over his shoulder and there, inches from his face, was the façade of a ghost. His eyes had been sewn shut with thick black thread, his chest was plastered with sacred sutras, and he clawed out at Bou-san blindly with both arms. His mouth was gaping open, a horrible wail of pain escaping to bounce against the stone walls.

Bou-san stumbled away, barely keeping his hold on the key as he desperately pressed his hands together and began his Tai-Mahou counter chant. The ghost fell backwards into the cave-in rubble and vanished, leaving only the lingering scent of death and the feeling of sorrow. 

“W-what was that?” Bou-san whispered, his heart throbbing.

“A Mourner, I think,” Lin said, letting his flashlight play nervously over the heap of stone where the Mourner’s ghost had vanished. The curled hand that he held the key was gone now. “Hurry. Let’s get back to the others.”

Bou-san nodded and darted for the staircase. He didn’t ever want to face that ghost again. Never in his life had he felt no unnerved by the sight of a spirit. Lin closed the secret door behind them as some unspoken meaning passed between them in the silence.

If we close the door, then they won’t be able to follow us.

Maybe.

…

Mai wasn’t sure how she had been able to fall asleep while she was soaking wet and shivering with cold, but she had. 

She realized this as she was standing in front of the houses outside the double gates that led to the Kurosawa house. She walked down the path between the two houses, beneath the bridge that connected them from above. The doors of the house to the left, which Mia now knew was called the Tachibana house, were slashed and ruined. A rusty sickle was wedged into the doors. The house to the right, the Kiryu house Mai inexplicably knew, was undamaged. 

As Mai approached, the doors of the Kiryu house slid open. Standing just inside the doors were two young girls in dark grey kimonos, holding hands, their dark hair covering their faces. They just stood there as silent and unmoving as dolls. Then, in the darkness behind them, Mai glimpsed movement. Another girl, identical to the first two was standing there as well. She lifted her face and Mai saw a mark like a crimson butterfly on her pale throat. 

“Kill me!” the single girl spoke—her voice a plea, a cry, a sob, and somehow an order. “Kill me!”

The two girls standing in front of Mai didn’t lift their heads, but the one to the left said in the same voice, “Don’t kill me!”

The young girl standing to the right whispered, “Daddy…”

The three of their young high-pitched wailing voices swirled together in a maelstrom, in a cacophony. They whirled together, mingling and overlapping until Mai didn’t even know which of them were speaking anymore. She looked desperately from one identical girl to the other, from the pair in front of her to the single girl standing behind them. They weren’t moving, just standing there, speaking.

“Kill me!”

“Don’t kill me!”

“Daddy…”

“Don’t kill me!”

“Kill me!”

“Why?”

“Kill me!

“Why do you kill?”

“Don’t kill me!”

“Daddy…”

“Don’t kill!”

“Kill!”

“Why kill?”

Mai clapped her hands over her ears, squeezing her eyes shut. “Stop it!” she shouted, her own voice cutting through theirs like a knife. There was abrupt silence and it was almost worse than when they had been speaking. Slowly, Mai opened her eyes again. The room before her was dark and still again. Lying in the middle of the floor was one of the girls, the other two hand vanished without a trace. 

Trembling, Mai stepped into the room, shards of broken pottery crackling under her feet. She approached the fallen young girl in the deep grey kimono and cautiously crouched beside her. Gingerly, she lifted the young girl’s body and her head lolled back, the tendrils of dark hair falling back from her face. Mai gasped and dropped her abruptly, scrambling to her feet and backing away.

The girl…

She was only a doll!

“Mai.” Naru’s voice cut through the stillness and Mai turned to look at him. He was standing just behind her, outside of the Kiryu house’s entrance, but his glacial eyes were focused beyond Mai’s head at the interior of the twin house. “Mai, what am I doing here?”

She wet her lips. “Gene?”

He nodded. “I was… I am already dead. So why…? Why am I here, Mai? What am I doing here?”

She swallowed thickly. “I don’t know.”

“Is my brother here too?” Gene asked her.

Mai nodded.

Gene’s blue eyes widened and he took a stumbling step back from her. “No. That’s not good,” he said. “If there are twins here, they’ll be forced to perform the Ritual.” Then, he turned and looked at the bridge connecting the twin houses. “Something is calling me… Telling me to complete the Ritual again…”

“Gene,” Mai said and took a step towards him.

“No!” he shouted and began backing away from her. “I don’t want to!”

“Gene, wait!” Mai shouted, reaching for him.

His face paled. “Don’t touch me!”

“Gene?” 

Then, there was a gust of hot stinking air that seemed as if it came up from hell itself. Mai stumbled forward, coughing, and unable to see as the hot grit blinded her. She heard Gene shout something again, but his voice was stolen by the wind. His hands closed on her shoulders and she put her hands out to press against his chest. Suddenly, it felt as if her hands passed through him and she felt a strange sensation run through her body. It felt as if Gene had somehow… dissolved into her body. Her hands reached out, blindly feeling the space where he had been standing, but there was nothing. She was alone.

“Mai, hey,” someone’s gentle voice rang through Mai’s head. Suddenly, the hot blowing air was gone from her dream and she was standing alone in the darkness. “Wake up.”

Mai opened her eyes and found herself staring into Naru’s handsome face. For a moment, she was confused. “Gene?” she murmured.

“No,” Naru said firmly and then vanished from her field of view. 

Mai sat up, looking around. 

Lin and Bou-san had returned with the key to the cell and let Naru out. John was sitting up, leaning against the lattice and looking a little pale, but his blue eyes were bright. Ayako was waving her finger in front of his face, having him follow it with his eyes. Then, she gave him a pat on the shoulder and told him that he was okay. Madoka, Masako, and Yasuhara were talking with Bou-san as he told them what had happened in the cavern beneath the Osaka house. Naru was loading a few books into Lin’s backpack and drinking some water. Everyone looked calm and faintly happy.

“Alright,” Bou-san said and clapped his hands together. “Who’s ready to get out of here?”

Needless to say, everyone was beyond ready to leave.

Mai’s clothes were mostly dry, but she buttoned herself up in Yasuhara’s flannel jacket to keep the chilly night air off her damp clothing. 

Then, everyone gathered each other up and they all headed away from the cell, back down the hallway, into the basement of the Kurosawa house, and then up the staircase that lead outside. In the Kurosawa house’s courtyard, they made sure everyone with them before closing the door behind them. They trekked across the bridge, ever wary for drowned ghosts who wanted to grab them and pull them into the undulating waters below. They pushed their way through the double doors that had originally separated Mai and Naru from the others. With that, they were free of the Kurosawa house.

Bou-san sighed in relief as the double doors swung closed behind them.

“Alright,” Ayako said. “Now, how to we get out of here?” 

Lin led the group up the path between the two connected houses and pulled the sickle from the door of the Tachibana house. “Simple. Enough of this. It’s dangerous here. Just because there’s no path through the forest doesn’t mean we can’t make one,” he said and weighed the rusty sickle in his hands. 

“I like that plan,” Bou-san put in.

Lin smiled at the monk.

It was then that Mai saw him. Gene was standing only a few feet away, staring at her, almost beckoning her. He was smiling beautifully, just like he usually did in her dreams. Mai walked towards him, her body and mind felt so distant. She felt almost… possessed. All she could think of was Gene. There was a voice in her mind, whispering— _the Ritual, the Ritual…_ The voice called her forward, urged her on, and she felt as if she had no choice. Something else was in control of her body.

Crimson butterflies danced around her.

Bou-san grabbed her wrist and called her name, but her wrist passed right through his fingers like she was a ghost herself.

“Hey! Mai!” Ayako shouted.

Bou-san lunged to grab Mai again, but this time his entire body passed through her. “Hey! Come back!” he shouted.

Mai continued walking as if she was completely unaware of her friends or the desperate way they were trying to stop her, her coffee-colored eyes glazed over and fixed straight ahead. She walked to the doors of the Kiryu house and they slid open, welcoming her inside. 

Naru’s heart leaped up into his throat, choking him. Why did her body looked like she was suddenly dressed in all black? Why did she look like his dead twin? “Wait! Stop! Gene! Don’t do this!” he shouted without thinking and lunged after Mai. 

He saw her fall to her knees just inside the threshold and then slump over sideways, unconscious. 

Naru was inches away from the doors of the Kiryu house when they slid shut. He wrenched them open and shouted Mai’s name, but the entrance foyer was empty. Mai was nowhere to be seen. For a moment, Naru thought he saw two young girls standing there, holding hands, but when he blinked, they were gone.

“Mai!” he shouted, “Mai!”

**X X X**

Questions, comments, concerns? 


	13. The Kiryu House and the Kiryu Twins

Crap! Now Mai’s disappeared on them.

**Day Two, Endless Night**

Bou-san slammed his fist into the wall, glaring at the empty foyer fiercely. “Damn it all!” he shouted. “How could this happen?” He punched the wall again, the skin on his knuckles breaking open and blood oozing from the wound. “What do we do now?”

“What choice do we have?” Naru snapped at them. “Are we going to leave without Mai?”

“No!” the entire team practically shouted in unison.

“Then I think it should be pretty clear what we do next,” Naru said to them shortly. His eyes hard and impatient with what he considered their stupidity. “We go into this house after Mai, find her, bring her out, hold onto her very tightly this time, and try to leave this place somehow.”

Lin put in, the sickle dangling from his hand, “Should we split up? I could start making a path through the forest.”

Naru hesitated. “Do you think that would be best, Lin?”

The Chinese man nodded. 

“Alright. Don’t go alone,” Naru continued. “Madoka, you go with him.” 

Madoka nodded. “We’ll be careful.” 

Then, Lin handed Naru the backpack of tomes he was carrying before Madoka and Lin headed back up the sloping path to the hill, the crooked torii gate, and the clawed altar. The sickle in Lin’s hand glinted in the faint moonlight and a shiver of unease went down Naru’s spine. If something happened to Lin… Madoka would be defenseless.

“Are you sure splitting up is safe, Naru-bou?” Bou-san asked. 

“No,” he said plainly. “But we need to find Mai and we need to get out of here. Splitting up is the best way to get both those things done. Besides, Lin can take care of himself.”

“But what about Madoka?” Ayako put in. “If something happens, like if Lin gets possessed, she’ll be defenseless.”

Naru crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay. Then who wants to go with them?”

There was a moment of silence as they all looked at each other. Bou-san or John would be the obvious choices to send with Lin and Madoka, but if something happened inside the Kiryu house, they wanted to be nearby to save Mai. Ayako was the next best choice, but she was a doctor. If Mai was hurt, they would need her. Yasuhara was just a high school kid and Masako could protect herself and others since she was a medium, but she probably wouldn’t be able to stand against Lin’s shiki and experience. Naru could go, but if he used his Qigong, then his life would be in danger so he was out of the running as well. 

“I’ll go,” John said suddenly, ever the mediator. “I’m a little tired anyway.”

Bou-san patted him on the back. “Thanks John.”

The young man smiled.

“Yasuhara, maybe you should go with him,” Ayako said almost as an afterthought. “If something happens and that woman tries to possess you again, it would be best if you were with John. He’s the only one who can really help you in the event of possession.”

Yasuhara looked about to protest, but he understood what the miko was saying and nodded. “Alright,” he relented. John did look a little pale and ill anyway so Yasuhara slung his arm around John’s shoulders and helped him walk up the hill. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Just a little cold and tired,” John admitted. 

Then, their voices faded into the night. A moment later, the group standing in front of the Kiryu house heard Madoka’s exclamation when she spotted John and Yasuhara. Then her voice echoed over the village, calling that they were with her and everything was alright.

“Alright,” Naru said once the echoes of her voice had faded. “Let’s get going.”

Bou-san led the way, entering into the Kiryu house and stepping up on the raised wooden floor from the earthen entrance. 

Masako hesitated just inside the threshold. “I feel so much pain in this house. There is guilt… and fear…”

“A lot of people died in this village, Masako,” Ayako said gently and hugged the young medium to her side. “That’s to be expected.”

“But I sense something strange,” Masako insisted. “The souls…”

“Let’s keep moving,” Naru said. “We just need to find Mai and get out of here.”

“Yeah, let’s move,” Bou-san added.

Masako nodded and stepped out of the threshold of the doorway. The moment she did, the door slammed behind her and they were plunged in total darkness. Bou-san and Naru were carrying flashlights and immediately fumbled for them, but they proved unnecessary. The darkness only lasted a moment before there was a small childish giggle in the dark. Bou-san began his chant immediately, his voice bouncing off the walls loudly. The giggle was abruptly silenced and then, as one, the lanterns in the entire house became inexplicably lit.

“I don’t like this,” Ayako whispered.

Naru pretended he didn’t hear. “Let’s keep moving.”

Bou-san opened the only door in the room, his eyes bugged out of his head, and he stepped back. 

“What?” Ayako asked. “What is it?”

Masako’s fingers clutched the older woman’s shirt. “W-what?”

“It’s a… a room full of dolls…” Bou-san whispered.

Masako sighed in relief even as Ayako shuddered. “That’s not so bad.”

Bou-san shook his head. “That’s not all. It’s a room full of… hanging dolls…”

Naru joined him in the threshold and didn’t look fazed, but Naru’s face was as pale and blank as a porcelain doll. He was probably shocked as well, but was hiding it. “They’re only dolls,” was all Naru said. “Let’s keep moving. We need to find Mai.”

“I don’t want to see dolls,” Ayako moaned. 

“It’s okay,” Masako murmured and tugged her forward. 

The room was staggering. The ceiling was decorated with a latticework of open rafters and there were countless dolls hanging from their necks by thin red ropes (save one whose head had come off and both the body and head were lying on the floor, the string dangling empty from the ceiling). Each doll was very different from the last. Their faces were beautifully painted, each with colorful glass eyes and dark hair of different styles and lengths. Some wore kimonos, others were naked with all their wooden joints exposed, a few were half dressed, but each kimono pattern, color, and design was different. For someone to put this much effort into something so macabre and bizarre was… shocking to say the least and incredibly eerie.

Ayako groaned.

“Just don’t look at them,” Bou-san said comfortingly.

“Yeah, sure,” she muttered. “Easy for you to say. It’s like a traffic accident. I know it’s going to bother me, but I have to look anyway.”

Naru ignored them and made his way through the hanging dolls to the door just beyond. 

A shard of ice went down Masako’s spine and that terrible feeling of guilt, pain, and death overwhelmed her. She wanted to open her mouth, to call out to Naru not to open the door because something was there on the other side, but her throat closed over. It felt as if someone’s hands were wrapped around her throat, squeezing, squeezing, squeezing. Masako slid to her knees, gasping for breath. She couldn’t breathe. Someone was strangling her and the guilt was even more powerful. A cry escaped Masako’s mouth.

“Masako!” Bou-san was kneeling beside her, pressing his hand to her back. “What is it?”

Ayako began her Nine Words. “Rin! Pyou! Tou! Sha! Kai! Jin! Restu! Zai! Zen!” 

There was a muted scream of pain. “Why? Why do you kill?”

Then, the hands released Masako’s throat and she sucked in a desperate breath of air. Bou-san rubbed her back, patting it gently as she choked and gasped for breath. When she finally managed to breathe normally again, she explained to them what she had felt and the voice she had heard crying through her head. 

“We should hurry,” Naru said when she finished, peering through the hanging dolls. “Mai could be in real danger.”

Masako nodded, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. Mai had once risked her own life to come to save Masako back when they were in the bloody labyrinth of the Miyama Mansion and now, finally, it was her turn to repay the favor. This time, now, she would save Mai. “Just hold on,” the medium whispered. “Wait for us…”

Naru pulled open the door from the hanging doll room to reveal a long hallway with rooms on all sides. There were two small ruined tatami rooms to the right, one larger room straight ahead with a narrow hallway on either side so that it was almost like a room within a room, and two closed doors to the left. Naru tried the first door, but it wouldn’t open. 

Bou-san tried it as well, but it was stuck fast. “Maybe it’s warped,” he suggested. 

Naru rolled his shoulders and tried the next door. This one opened into the family altar room with a small table pushed against the wall. The altar was small but beautiful and have been incredibly well-taken-care-of, unlike the altar room in the Osaka house. The four of them stepped into the room, Bou-san and Naru going to the altar and searching immediately since there had been a secret passage behind the last altar while Ayako went to the small table.

“Guys,” Ayako said. “Look at this.” She held up two small tomes—a young girl’s violet diary decorated with small dark flowers and another cream-colored tome with the small drawing of a doll on it. 

“Let Masako read the diary and you read the other one,” Naru suggested. “We’ll keep looking here.”

Ayako nodded, handed the violet diary to Masako, and opened the small pale tome with the doll on it. She discovered that it was a journal from All God’s Village’s doll maker, a man named Kiryu Yoshitatsu.

_“Akane… my poor precious girl… Akane has become a Remaining. She’s so sad—she and Azami were so close… Since the day of the Ritual, she has been emotionless. To comfort her, I’ll make a doll that looks just like Azami. This way they can be together. If they doll looks exactly like Azami, then when they are together no one can tell them apart.  
“It is finished! I have constructed the doll. It’s perfect. It looks so much like Azami that sometimes I forget that she is dead… Akane never leaves the doll’s side for even a second. She’s always whispering things to her. I’m not sure what she says, but at least she slowly seems to be returning to her former self. To the little girl I love…”_

_“Last night, I thought I heard footsteps. I thought it was Akane, but it was really the Azami doll—walking by herself! Akane has spent so much time thinking of her sister and mourning that a spirit must have taken possession of the doll. It is said that when a spirit takes residence inside a doll, it can steal the soul of others. My precious Akane, she isn’t a person anymore. She’s like a doll and Azami has become the person. She keeps repeating, “I don’t want to kill,” over and over. My precious Akane, I’m so sorry, but Azami must be killed again.”_

_“Azami came to me in my dreams last night, the real Azami, not the doll. Even though she should be a butterfly now, I know I saw her. She told me to kill the doll before it hurts Akane. I have made a grave mistake in making that doll. The twins had become one again, but the doll separated them. I’ll hang the doll to kill it and then throw it into the Hellish Abyss.”_

_“Somehow, Akane found out my plans to dispose of the doll. She damaged the mechanism to access the passageways beneath the village and she took parts of the doll—its head and hands. I have to restore the twin doll to normal and drop the possessed doll of Azami into the Abyss to send the malicious spirit back to hell.”_

_“I think Azami is trying to tell me where the head and hands of the doll are. They’re hidden in a box, somewhere in this house. Somehow, Azami is still connected to Akane. If I hurry, maybe the damage can all be undone and they can be together again.”_

_“Everything has been fixed. I can destroy the doll now. First, I’ll have to kill the doll by hanging it. Then, I’ll throw it into the Hellish Abyss. It knows this and is controlling Akane. They’re trying to kill me. I have to hurry, I have to throw the doll in, even if seeing the Abyss blinds me. My daughter must die again… and Akane must relive the pain of losing her sister. If we didn’t have this ritual, no one would have to feel that kind of pain and no one should…”_

That was where the journal ended. 

Ayako assumed that Yoshitatsu had failed in his destruction of the doll. The doll and Akane had most likely killed him and then the doll had eaten the soul of the poor mourning twin. “How horrible,” Ayako murmured and closed the journal.

Masako had already finished reading the diary. The entries were all short and incredibly confusing.

_“Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill?”_

_“We had to do the Ritual. My hands closed around Azami’s neck. It was soft, warm, breathing. Alive. My grip seemed to cause her so much pain. At the very end, a Veiled Priest came to help me, but Azami said she wanted only me to do it. I wanted to become one with Azami, but we didn’t become one. She’s dead… She’s gone… I can’t talk about it anymore.”_

_“Father brought Azami back to me! All I could do was apologize. She forgave me. The killing is over now. No more. I’ll never hurt anyone ever again… I’ll never let anyone kill again. Maybe Azami and I should leave the village so we can be safe.”_

_“Father says Azami has been possessed and he’s trying to kill her! He’s trying to kill Azami! I won’t let him do it! I won’t! I won’t let him hurt her! I won’t let that happen anymore! Even if… even if I have to kill him myself. To protect Azami… I’ll kill again."_

The next entry was written in faint crimson, almost like blood.

_“YoU Don’t neeD a suBStitutE. FoR ME. I aM Part of AkaNE nOW. I AM onE wItH AKanE. KILL IT! KiLL tHAT sTupID dOll!”_

Masako could feel what had happened in this house. Azami and Akane had been used as Shrine Maidens in the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual, but they were so young that Akane didn’t understand what had happened to her sister. She was guilty, lonely, depressed. When her father gave her the doll that looked like her sister, it was as if they were together again. When her father discovered that the doll had been possessed, he wanted to get rid of it, but Akane couldn’t bear to let Azami die again. So, controlled by the doll and her own desperate fear, she strangled her father and killed him. He couldn’t have fought against his own daughter, no matter what. And after that, the doll ate Akane’s broken soul and killed her. 

It was horrible, tragic, painful…

Masako closed the violet diary with a soft sad sigh. Tears burned in her eyes and throat, but she fought them back. Akane and Azami had been dead a long time—Mai was what was important now. Masako glimpsed movement and looked up from the pages of the diary. Was there someone moving? In the wall?

She took a step forward and noticed that there was a small hole in the wall. Through it, she could see into the next room. It looked like there were… body parts all over the room! And standing there, muttering to himself and crying, was an elderly white-haired man. Suddenly, he looked up and their eyes met. Against his chest, he was cradling a dark-haired head, stroking the hair gently and mournfully.

“Naru!” Masako screamed, pointing.

**X X X**

The Kiryu house is my favorite location in the entire Fatal Frame series, even though it creeps me out horribly! I’m with Ayako! I absolutely hate dolls, especially when they’re doing something creepy… like existing with no heads or falling down for no reason or looking at you with their creepy glass eyes! They’re so incredibly creepy. Maybe I shouldn’t have watched Chucky when I was like seven.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	14. Exploration of the Kiryu House

Man, this chapter is even longer than the last one.

**Day Two, Endless Night**

Naru’s head snapped up when he heard Masako scream. The medium was clutching the violet diary to her chest, pointing desperately at the wall. He whirled in that direction, but he didn’t seen anything. “What?” he asked her, looking back and forth from the wall to Masako.

“There!” Masako said again. 

Bou-san stepped directly in front of Masako and then he saw the hole and the man holding the head. “Naru! There’s someone in there!” Then, he turned on his heel and raced from the altar room. He tore the door that had been stuck when they entered earlier open to easily that he almost fell over on his face, but the man was gone. Lying in the middle of the floor where the man had been standing was what looked like a human head. Bou-san nervously toed it with his boot and it rolled cleanly over, clattering woodenly on the floorboards.

Ayako was a split-second behind him, but stopped dead in the doorway. “Ugh! It’s the doll maker’s room,” she groaned and eyed all the body parts scattered around the room. Through the hole in the wall in the altar room, they looked very real, but now their wooden joints were visible. “These are all doll parts,” she said.

“I knew that,” Bou-san said sheepishly and picked the head up carefully. It was young girl’s pretty face—her lips were painted into a smile, her glass eyes open and bright, her cheeks rosy pink. Her face was framed with thick black hair that felt unnervingly real. “This can’t be real, right?”

“It’s probably real hair, yeah,” Ayako said and went over to the workbench where there were all manner of limbs, eyes, and paint brushes scattered about. She searched absently through the doll maker’s things, but then shuddered away. “This stuff is so creepy.”

Naru and Masako joined them at the threshold of the room. 

“That face,” she whispered as her eyes focused on the doll head in Bou-san hands. “It’s the likeness of one of the Kiryu twins.”

“Which one?” Bou-san asked.

Masako slid him a look.

“Just thought I’d ask,” he said and did a cautious palms up, still holding the head. 

Naru turned to her. “What were their names?”

“Azami and Akane,” Masako told him.

Then, the medium recounted to him everything she had read in the violet diary and what she had seen in her psychic vision. When she finished, Ayako told them what she had read in the doll maker’s journal. Bou-san nervously looked at the head in his hands and Naru moved to examine the things on the workbench. He didn’t find anything of interest. 

“Let’s keep going,” Naru said.

“What about the head?” Bou-san asked, eyeing it.

“Ayako had information about a mechanism that was missing its head and arms. Maybe that’s the head. Just hold on to it,” Naru said.

Bou-san tried to hand the head to Ayako, but she wasn’t even going to touch it. With a heavy sigh, Bou-san tucked the head under his arm and tried to pretend he wasn’t holding a severed doll’s head. It was a lot harder to forget than one might think.

Naru led them around the large tatami room at the end of the short hallway. There was a door on either side of the room. 

“Should we split up?” Bou-san asked.

“Sure,” Naru said after a moment of consideration. “Bou-san and I will go to the left, Masako and Ayako will take the right.”

They nodded, split up, and headed out.

…

The door Ayako opened led into a girl’s bedroom. It was clearly arranged for twins with two of everything and Masako pressed her fingers to her mouth as the feelings in the room assaulted her—guilt, sorrow, pain, loneliness. There were two small lanterns lit in front of two small violet pillows and, kneeling there, the light playing on their downturned faces were two twin girls with long dark hair dressed in identical deep grey kimonos.

Ayako began her Nine Words, but even as she finished, the two girls didn’t move. “What the—?” She touched one of the girl’s shoulders and they both vanished without a trace.   
Masako and Ayako exchanged a quick glance, but neither of them said anything.

“Let’s keep going,” Ayako suggested. 

Masako nodded. “We have to find Mai,” she agreed.

Ayako smiled faintly. “You guys have become friends, huh?”

With a snort, Masako turned away, embarrassed. “We… we most certainly are not.”

Ayako patted her on the shoulder with her ruined manicured fingers. “There, there. Mai’s a nice person.”

“I’m just returning the favor because she came to save me in the Miyama Mansion. It’s only fair!” Masako protested.

“And do you know why Mai came to save you?” Ayako asked the kimono-clad medium.

“Because she felt guilty?” Masako said even though she knew she was wrong.

“Because you’re friends,” Ayako told her. “Let’s go.”

Masako didn’t want to admit that she had become incredibly fond of the scatter-brained Taniyama Mai, but Ayako was right. Masako considered Mai a friend and she wanted to save her, no matter the cost. Smiling faintly, Masako followed Ayako from the twins’ room into a hallway that wound in both directions. 

“Well, Masako, left or right?” Ayako asked. 

“Right,” the medium decided.

They walked down the hallway together. They came to a door which Ayako slid open and then shuddered back from. “It’s another room full of dolls,” she hissed.

“Are they hanging?” Masako asked.

“No, they’re sitting nicely on stands.”

Masako nudged the other woman and the two of them stepped into the room. The walls were lined with stands covered in crimson velvet with countless dolls lined up neatly on each shelf. In the center of the room were the two girls in dark kimonos that they had seen earlier. The Kiryu twins, Akane and Azami, Masako had said. Ayako gingerly poked one of the twins, but they were wooden.

“They’re dolls,” Ayako said. “This is so weird.”

Masako circled the dolls. One was perfect and whole and beautiful, the other had both its arms, but was missing its head. “I guess we know where the head we found goes,” Masako remarked.

“I hate it when things don’t have heads,” Ayako muttered.

“I don’t think there’s anything here,” Masako said. “Let’s keep moving.”

They ducked out of the doll room and Ayako closed the door behind them. There was another doorway just beside the door to the doll room which opened into a room with an ancient projector and a torn white screen. They made their way through the room and into the next one. There was a staircase going up and another door that led outside. They climbed the stairs. Upstairs, there was a small study. Lying on the small low desk were a few sheets of loose paper with Makimura Masumi’s name written neatly at the bottom.

“Masumi?” Masako asked.

“I think that’s the geological surveyor who went missing. You know, the one Madoka found the articles about in the Osaka house. They were in that woman Sudo Miyako’s purse because she came here looking for him and neither one of them seem to have made it out,” Ayako replied.

“Right,” Masako said and leaned over Ayako’s shoulder to read.

_“I’m trapped here, but I’m sure if I can figure out what happened here, I can find a way out. I’ve learned a lot about the twins in this village. The Twin Deities Statues are of twins because they are used for a special Ritual. Each time the ritual is completed, a new statue is placed somewhere in the village. The Ritual must occur every few decades, judging by the number of statues in the village. Miyako, I’ll be nearby. I miss you!”_

_“I looked into the old well beneath the Kurosawa house, but it was pitch black. When I listened closely, I could hear wind blowing, but it seems that the water is all dried up now. I can’t tell which was here first, the well or the house, but neither has been used for a long time. This village disappeared so long ago…”_

_“According to the records I’ve found, the Kurosawa house used to belong to the powerful Tsuchihara family. In this village, the Osaka, Kiryu, and Tachibana families were also influential. Each house had its own crest and had power in the village. Each was a branch of the Kurosawa family. As a group, they were also in charge of the Ritual. The Kurosawa name is scattered throughout literature, but I can’t find any concrete information. I have no doubt that they held absolute power though. Where in the world did all the villagers go? And how do you get out of this village? The answers must be somewhere…”_

_“I found a small shrine at the top of a long set of stairs, shrouded in an unnatural mist. It seems to be very old, but is well-made and has not fallen into disrepair. The entrance has a large butterfly crest painted on it, the same as the one I found in the Kurosawa house. Butterflies seem to have a special meaning here, just like twins. They are frequently mentioned in the Ritual literature. What could it mean?”_

_“I found a small badly-drawn map of the village. I learned that the hill near the crooked torii gate where I entered the village is called Misono Hill. I tried to find a path through the forest again, but even the torii gate is buried under all kinds of trees and flora. Misono Hill plays a key role in the Crimson Sacrifice Ceremony. Right in the middle lies a massive rock, known as the Offering Stone, and the surrounding area is protected by pillars and wards. The Offering Stone also seems to be a ‘cover’ for sealing some kind of hole. What sort of hole needs a gigantic stone like this for cover? Why does it need to be covered at all? What if this is the very thing I’ve been searching for—the way out of the village?”_

_“How many days have I been in this village? Two? Maybe three? It feels like I’ve been here for years. In this village of endless night, it’s easy to lose all sense of time. Miyako is utterly exhausted. Sometimes, she manages to give me a weak smile, but it only makes me more uncomfortable. Physically and mentally, she’s running on empty. And so am I…”_

_“I haven’t found a way out of the village yet, but sifting through the material I gathered in the village again, I found a clue. A gigantic underground tunnel, called the Passageway by the villagers, connects all the important locations in the village. It is used for travel between the houses during the ceremony and also store important items. It’s difficult to estimate the scale of the passages from the map, but there is sure to be a way out through there. I didn’t find an information about the entrance to a passageway. However, there must be a clue somewhere in the Kurosawa house as they presided over the ceremony.”_

_“I’ve decided to leave Miyako here in the Osaka house where she’s be safe and search the Kurosawa house alone. I’ll find a way out of the village and then come back for her.”_

Masako and Ayako looked at each other, both thinking the same thing—underground passageway and a way out of the village. Ayako folded up the papers and tucked them into her bra for safekeeping. Then, trying not to think of how neither Masumi nor Miyako had managed to escape this place. They hurried back down the stairs, back passed the doll room, and continued down the hallway in the direction they hadn’t gone yet. 

They came to a doorway that opened into a small room packed with boxes and furniture draped with white dusty sheets with a wide staircase. Up the stairs, they could hear Bou-san and Naru’s voices. Since they had finished investigating, they climbed the stairs and rejoined the guys.

…

Naru and Bou-san had gone through the door to the left, away from the girls. Their room proved to be a small foyer with a large grandfather clock ticking loudly in the dark corner. Most of the room was dominated by the large open staircase. Part of the railing had been violently broken and the boards from it were strewn all over the earthen floor. It looked as if something or someone had fallen down from the hallway above.

“Well, Naru-bou? Going up?” Bou-san asked.

Naru nodded and led the way up the stairs, listening as the creaked ominously under his feet. When he reached the middle of the square spiraling staircase, he heard a strange voice whispering. He stopped, listening. Was it Mai?

“I don’t want to be here… I want to fly away…” someone whispered, a young woman by the sounds of her voice echoing. “Fly away… I don’t want to die like this. Please, let me fly away…”

Then, there was a shattering female scream shook the room. Dust and spiders fell from the rafters and they heard a horrible crash. Bou-san immediately thought of the girls and turned back to the door, so he missed the moment when the woman in a crimson kimono threw herself through the empty space where the railing had been broken violently at the top. She fell, her faces inches from Naru’s as she passed him. Then, her body cracked into the hard earthen floor.

Bou-san cursed, leaping back from her fallen body, scrambling to keep his hold on the doll’s head. Naru grabbed the railing and leaned over, looking down at her.

For a moment, she just lay there and it looked like she was dead. Then, she moaned in agony and began to crawl on her back on the floor, dragging her broken limbs on the ground around her. She made her way towards Bou-san, moaning in anguish, her breasts swelling over the hem of her kimono. “F-fly away… k-kill me… so much pain… please, p-please, kill… fly… pain, pain… help me… kill me…”

Bou-san pressed his hands together and began his counter spell. The woman froze in place, waiting for the spell’s assault and was not disappointed. Within moments, her agonized spiritual shell was gone from the floor, but Bou-san had a feeling that she hadn’t been laid to rest yet. The people in this village were reliving the night of their deaths over and over. There might not be an escape for any of them, even the trapped members of SPR.

“Stop thinking like that.” Naru’s voice rang through the silence.

Bou-san’s head snapped up. “Huh?”

Naru’s glacial eyes were sharp and wine-dark. “Stop thinking those thoughts.”

“Are you reading my mind?” Bou-san asked.

Naru turned away. “No. It’s written all over your face.”

“Oh.”

“Let’s go. We have to find Mai.”

“Right,” Bou-san murmured. Then, reminding himself that Mai was still in danger, he pulled himself back together and climbed the creaking staircase behind Naru.

Upstairs, there was a weirdly winding hallway with a few small cell-like rooms at the top of the staircase. Working carefully around the ruined portion of the railing, they continued through the maze-like hallway until they came to a raised tatami room. Sitting in the middle of the room was a small kneeling shape wrapped in a thick blanket. Bou-san knelt and reached to touch it, but Naru stopped him with a shake of the head. Bou-san stepped away from the figure, shivering.

A cool pale hand, nails ragged and broken, gripped his shoulder.

Bou-san jumped, whirling to face Ayako and Masako. “Don’t do that to me!” he shouted at them. 

“Sorry,” Ayako said and removed her hand. “We heard you and we finished up downstairs.”

“Did you find anything?” Naru asked her.

Ayako produced the papers from her bra and handed them to Naru. It wasn’t very often that Naru acted his age, but now his eyes widened and he gingerly took the still-warm papers with the tips of his fingers. Bou-san stifled a laugh and even Masako hid her smile behind her dainty kimono sleeve.

“I don’t have cooties, Naru,” Ayako said and folded her arms over her chest, grinning at his plight as well.

He glared at the them and quickly skimmed the papers. “An underground passageway,” he said when he finished.

“Where?” Bou-san asked as he took the papers from Naru’s hand and made a show of rubbing his face on them before Ayako swatted him upside his head. 

“Shut up,” Ayako said to him and then explained. “Beneath the entire village. It’s another way out of here.”

Naru nodded. “But we still need to find Mai.”

“We haven’t found her and we’ve gone through this entire house,” Bou-san said.

“Actually,” Ayako said, eyeing the doll head tucked under his arm, “I think we can use the doll’s head to activate the mechanism we found in another creepy doll room. From the doll maker’s notes and what I can guess, I bet the doll mechanism leads into the underground passage beneath the village.”

Naru nodded, glancing at the doll’s head. “Alright. Let’s do that. We can’t leave until we find Mai,” he said. 

Then, he led the group back towards the staircase where the woman had thrown her body through the railing and to death below. Like the woman on the bridge who had done the same thing to escape whatever was coming. What horrible thing had wiped out this village? Could the Repentance that they had read about be something so terrible? Then again, from the descriptions Naru had read, it was probably truly gruesome—gruesome enough that the entire village had been wiped from the face of the planet in a single night, probably by the woman in the bloodstained white kimono and the tormented outsider, Makabe Seijuro, who had been turned into a Kusabi.

Naru was halfway down the stairs with Ayako right behind him. Masako was just reaching the place where the railing had been broken and Bou-san was a few feet behind her, once again looking suspiciously at the doll’s head he was carrying. It was a creepy-looking item with its glass eyes and dark shadowy hair and all.

Then, a shrill woman’s scream split through the silence and Naru turned just in time to see the woman in the red kimono throw herself over the railing, her body going through Masako’s, but as if deciding that she didn’t want to die at the last moment, she grabbed a hold of Masako and pulled her medium over the railing with her. When Masako screamed, it was lost.

**X X X**

Mwuahaha! Evil cliffhanger! 

Questions, comments, concerns?

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	15. Masako's Fall and the Sight of Mai

Only about five more chapters to go. I’ll have this wrapped up by twenty.

**Day Two, Endless Night**

The suicidal woman in the red kimono had her long white arms wrapped around Masako’s thin small body, crushing the medium to her as she plummeted head-first towards the ground below. There was a moment of pure panic as Bou-san lunged for Masako, the doll’s head bouncing away into the darkness when he dropped it, and only managed to grab a fistful of the bottom of Masako’s kimono as she was pulled into the woman’s suicidal fall. The weight of two people on the thin fabric caused it to tear in his hand. He was left clutching the scrap of fabric as Masako plummeted to her death.

Masako screamed, her dark blue eyes wide with terror.

Ayako shouted Masako’s name, reaching desperately over the railing to try to grab the falling medium. The ghost’s leg brushed against her outstretched arm and the icy-cold of death spread through Ayako’s skin. This was what death felt like and Masako was going to die… She was going to fall to her death in the grip of this woman’s ghost and there was nothing they could do to save her. It was over—there was nothing they could do to save her. Nothing!

But there wasn’t.

Naru made a split-second decision. His psychokinetic abilities coursed to the surface, so strong that it didn’t take any concentration at all to bring them into play even after years of disuse. Lin had taught him Qigong when he was only a child to control this unbelievable power and now, he used it again, even knowing how dangerous it was for him—life threatening, even. But what choice did he have? Masako was inches from death.

The ability reached out from him, the Qigong powerfully knocking the woman’s icy ghost from Masako and then cocooning Masako in a protective bubble to save her from the fall. The ghost’s body smashed into the hard-packed earthen floor, shattered, and she began moaning in agony. 

Masako landed on her back hard enough to knock the wind out of her, but she was unhurt. For a moment, she thought maybe God had saved her, but then she saw the faint glow coming from Naru’s body and realized that he had used his PK to save her life. She smiled, about to thank him, when he crumpled to the floor.

“Naru!”

…

Up on Misono Hill, Lin and Yasuhara were taking turns hacking at the overgrown flora around the torii gate with little to no success. They had been at it for at least an hour, but it looked as if they had only cleared away a square foot of vines and shrubs. John was sitting beside Madoka, snuggled deep inside Bou-san’s fleece-lined jacket yet he was somehow still cold. Madoka wrapped her arm around his shoulder and rubbed his arm comfortingly, trying to warm him up.

“This isn’t working,” Lin said finally and stopped his hacking.

“Do you want me to have a go at it for a while?” Yasuhara offered, wiping his forehead.

“That’s not what I meant. I mean, we’ve been at this for a while and we’re not making progress,” Lin said.

“There has to be another way out of the village,” Madoka put in, still rubbing John’s arms to try to warm him up, not that it was really helping.

“Maybe we should regroup with the others in the Kiryu house. They might have found another way out or at least have a better idea than,” Lin looked at the overgrown gate with exasperation, “this!”

“That sounds like a good idea,” John said finally and pushed some of his blonde hair off his forehead. He was still cold, but he felt better by now. 

“Alright,” Lin said and tossed the sickle down on the ground with a huff. “Let’s go.”

Lin and Madoka gathered up their flashlights, backpacks, and supplies. Yasuhara helped John to his feet. John languidly stretched and stuck his arms through the sleeves of the jacket her had been huddled up in. This rest had done him some good. 

“Should we really just leave that sickle lying there?” John asked politely.

“Who’s going to trip over it?” Yasuhara asked. “A ghost?”

Madoka chuckled. “That’s true.”

“Ah, I’m sorry,” John said.

Then, they headed down into All God’s Village towards the Kiryu house where Naru, Bou-san, Ayako, and Masako had gone after Mai after she had disappeared inside. They were walking past the narrow passage between the two twin houses, Kiryu and Tachibana. Overhead, the Heaven Bridge that connected them was eerily there. Then, they heard the creak of the wooden boards. Yasuhara was the only one who looked up, the others assuming that it was the wind. There, walking across the bridge, was Mai. Just behind her, standing and prepared to leap to her death, was the woman with the broken neck. 

“Look!” Yasuhara shouted, pointing. “Mai!”

Lin spotted Mai and then the woman’s ghost, her head lolling horribly on her twisted neck. He whistled, his shiki lashing through the air to destroy the ghost. Madoka and John both shouted Mai’s name, their voices echoing against the façade of the twin houses.

Mai didn’t even respond. It was as if she as in another world, a world all her own.

Lin rushed to the demolished front doors of the Tachibana house where they had pulled the sickle from earlier, but the doors were stuck fast. No force from heaven or hell would open those doors. Not even when John rushed up behind him and splashed the doors with holy water did they budge. On the bridge overhead, there was a bang like a door slamming shut. Suddenly, Madoka had a horrible feeling that Mai had just gone through that door and it was securely closed and locked behind her. Quickly, Madoka ran back to where she could see the bridge and, sure enough, Mai was gone.

Only the woman with the broken neck was standing on the bridge, preparing to leap to her death once again. She jumped and her body cracked against the ground, her neck breaking immediately, but they paid her no mind and hurried to the Kiryu house. The sooner they caught up with the others, the sooner they could tell them how they had seen Mai and could get out of this hellish place.

…

After saving Masako with his PK, Naru fell against the stairs, his forehead whacking against a wooden step painfully. Ayako immediately knelt at his side, rolling the black-clad youth over onto his back and cupping her hand over his mouth to make sure he was breathing. The first time Naru used his powers, to save himself and Mai when they fell into a manhole, he had been alright for several hours before passing out suddenly. The second time, in the Yoshimi house when Naru had used his powers against a God, he had passed out much sooner and his heart had stopped beating. If something like that happened now, there would be nothing Ayako could do to save him.

“Thank God,” she gasped when she felt Naru’s hot breath on her palm and then pressed her fingertips to the ugly gash on his forehead. 

He winced, his handsome face wrinkling in pain, and groaned.

Bou-san skidded to Ayako and Naru’s sides. “Is he okay? Is he alright? Ayako, do something!”

“Shut up, Bou-san!” the doctor snapped at him. “Naru,” she said softly. “Can you hear me?”

He groaned again and lifted a hand to his head.

Ayako caught his hand and didn’t let him touch the wound on his forehead. “Naru?”

“I… I’m okay,” Naru groaned.

“Don’t try to sit up,” Ayako told him. “Just take a minute to get your bearings, alright?”

He nodded, wincing again. 

“It’s alright. You hit your head. Do you feel alright?” Ayako turned to Bou-san. “Give me your water bottle.”

He handed it over immediately. Ayako supported Naru’s head against the crook of her elbow and helped him drink some water. Masako clambered desperately up the stairs to where Ayako, Bou-san, and Naru were gathered. Down below, the fallen suicidal woman crawled about on the floor with her broken body, moaning in agony. 

“Is Masako alright?” Naru mumbled.

“I’m fine, Naru,” Masako whispered and gently took his hand in her own. His skin felt cool and clammy, but she could feel his pulse beating evenly beneath his thin porcelain-white flesh. “Thank you… for saving me.”

“Ayako, help me sit up,” was all Naru said.

“Are you sure?” Ayako asked him. 

He nodded, winced, and then nodded again.

“Alright. Take it slow. If you get dizzy, let me know,” Ayako said. 

Then, she helped Naru sit up with Bou-san supporting him from behind. Together, they got the young ghost hunter into a sitting position. Ayako made him take another drink of water and sit breathing deeply for a minute before allowing him to try to stand. Bou-san steadied Naru on one side and Naru clung to the railing with his free hand.

“Are you alright?” Ayako asked Naru again.

“I’m okay,” he said. 

“You’re sure? Are you dizzy, lightheaded, nauseous?” she asked. “Do you feel cold or hot? Does your head hurt?”

“Just where I hit it,” Naru said. “I’m okay.”

“Bou-san, you support him,” Ayako told him firmly.

Naru looked like he wanted to protest but then he stumbled on the stairs and only Bou-san’s large hand wrapped around his elbow prevented him from falling flat on his face. “Thanks,” he muttered, not happy to admit that he needed help, but he gratefully allowed the monk to help him the rest of the way down the stairs. Once at the bottom, Bou-san realized he had lost the doll’s head and darted back up the stairs to retrieve it. Then, they headed for the doll room that Ayako and Masako had discovered. 

“Naru? Bou-san? Ayako? Masako?” Yasuhara’s voice echoed through the Kiryu house.

Ayako stopped in the hallway, blinking in surprise. “Yasuhara? What are you doing here?”

Madoka, Lin, John, and Yasuhara joined them in the hallway.

“Hey guys,” John said.

“John, are you feeling better?” Ayako asked him.

He nodded. “Yes.”

Then, Lin laid eyes on Naru and saw him so pale and being supported by Bou-san. Immediately, he knew what had happened. “Naru! What were you thinking using your powers? There’s no hospital here!”

Naru chose to ignore his mentor.

“I’m sure he has a good reason,” Madoka said, trying to mediate. 

“I’d love to hear it!” Lin snapped.

“A ghost grabbed me and pulled me over the railing. I was going to die,” Masako explained.

Lin glanced from Masako to Naru and back. Well, he really couldn’t scold his young ward for saving the medium’s life, could he? The Chinese man sighed heavily and went over to fuss over Naru, checking his pulse and his breathing. He decided both were as normal and strong as possible under the circumstances and sent up a silent prayer that they would manage to escape before something else happened that forced Naru to used his powers. It might cost Naru his life the next time…

“We just saw Mai!” Yasuhara was saying, breaking Lin from his thoughts.

“What?” Bou-san demanded. “Where?”

“She was on the bridge that connects the houses,” Yasuhara explained. “But it was as if she didn’t even see us.”

“Did she come into this house?” Ayako asked. 

“No. She was going into the other one,” Madoka said. “The one with the ruined doors where we got the sickle from.”

“The Tachibana,” Naru said once Lin stopped poking and prodding him. 

“Couldn’t you get to her?” Bou-san asked.

Lin shook his head. “We tried, but none of us could get the doors opened.”

“Oh.”

“We should hurry,” Naru interrupted. “We need to find Mai.”

Masako nodded, tucked some short dark hair behind her ear, and tried to pretend her hands weren’t still shaking from her near-death experience. Then, she followed after Ayako as the self-claimed miko led the way back to the doll room they had investigated earlier in the endless night.

Bravely, Ayako took the doll’s head from Bou-san and plugged it into the headless doll standing in the middle of the room. Everyone was holding their breath so the click of something unlocking was incredibly loud in the silence of the room. Behind the two eerie twin dolls, there was a sort of rust-colored box that looked like it had been built right into the wall and now, the entire front portion of the box lifted away to reveal a wooden ladder going down into pitch darkness.

**X X X**

Great, things are just falling apart. Naru used his powers, Mai is gone, Masako almost died, they couldn’t hack their way out… Jeez, but at least John is feeling better, right?

Questions, comments, concerns?

Review!


	16. The Discovery and Mai's Dream

I realized that Naru and Mai have been taking turns being missing throughout the course of this story. But it’s the same in Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly where you spend almost the whole game without Mayu. Poor Mio has to chase her everywhere…

**Day Two, Endless Night**

Mai was dreaming. 

Even though she knew this, it didn’t make what she was seeing any less painful. 

She could sense that she was deep underground even though it was too dark to clearly see the corners of the vast cavern. All around her like a sea was a horde of Veiled Priests with long staffs. They were beating these on the ground in time with each other and it sounded almost like a heartbeat, echoing against the walls. At the center of the cavern was a gigantic pit that went down, down, down…! Just before this pit was a square rock altar. 

Lying back on it was a young man with rich dark hair wearing a pale white kimono tied with a red cord at the waist to his twin as he leaned down over him. Mai recognized the boys, or at least one of them. It was Itsuki Tachibana and his twin, Mutsuki, as they preformed the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual. 

“No!” she shouted, but her voice was lost in the beat of the Veiled Priests’ staffs.

Itsuki was there over Mutsuki, his hands wrapped around his precious twin’s throat. He was crying, his tears dripping onto his twin’s upturned face. To make it easier for Itsuki, Mutsuki closed his eyes and tried to smile even as his lungs desperately begged for air. Then, the life was gone from the young man. The red cord binding them together snapped, the ends of it falling.

The Veiled Priests came up alongside Itsuki as the youth stumbled back in shock from his twin’s dead body. As one, they lifted his strangled corpse from the stone and threw it into the Hellish Abyss. Itsuki reached out, his cheeks gleaming with tears. 

“Mutsuki,” Itsuki sobbed. “No…”

There was an air of anticipation in the air. They were waiting for something, but what? The priests began to murmur.

“Oh no. It’s didn’t work…”

“The Ritual failed!”

“There’s no crimson butterfly.”

“He loved him too much.”

“It didn’t work.”

“No…”

Itsuki slid to his knees and buried his face in his hands. Mai watched his narrow back wrack with sobs of anguish and loss. It was one thing to lose his twin to save the village, but their Ritual didn’t even work. He hadn’t saved the village. He had only lost Mutsuki and now, another pair of twins would have to suffer—Sae and Yae would have to do it… One of them would have to die. No! Itsuki couldn’t let that happen! No one else deserved to lose someone so close to them that they were actually half of each other.

The world around Mai swirled as the dream changed.

Now, she standing among two beautiful twin girls who she knew were Sae and Yae and Itsuki. She recognized them as the insanely laughing woman in the bloodstained kimono, but which twin was she? Itsuki’s night-black hair had turned white. 

“You two have to get out of here,” Itsuki told Sae and Yae. “I’ll distract the villagers so you can get away.”

The girls nodded, holding hands tightly.

“Go now,” Itsuki said. “And don’t look back!”

The two girls ran into the forest, passing under the crooked red torii gate. Behind them, they could hear Itsuki shouting and the clash of farm weapons. The first girl didn’t look back, but the second did and in that moment, their hands slipped apart. 

“Wait! Yae, don’t leave me behind!” the second twin begged.

“Sae, hurry!” the first called, blindly reaching back.

“Yae! Wait!” Sae pleaded. 

Itsuki let out a cry of pain and then his shouting voice fell silent.

Sae looked back and saw the torchlight through the trees. The villagers were coming after them!

Then, Mai felt a horrible thought pass through Sae’s head. _‘I don’t want to leave the village. I want to stay with Yae… forever. I want to do the Ritual so I can become one with Yae… I don’t want to leave! I never want to leave Yae!’_ Then, she saw a place on the path with a steep slope and decided it then. 

Sae reached it and let her leg slide over the edge, slipping through the slit in her white kimono. She had only intended to fall to her knees, enough to make Yae come back to her, but the hill was steeper than she had thought. Her body pitched over the side, a scream gasping from her throat as she fell. “Yae!”

But Yae was too far ahead of her.

Yae didn’t hear her.

But the villagers did. They came down the slope and captured Sae, bringing her back to All God’s Village. Yae, on the other hand, they weren’t able to find in the forest. It was as if the ghosts of the other twins had spirited her away into another world. Sae listened to the rumbling earthquakes of the Hellish Abyss beneath the village as her father discussed performing the Ritual with Sae alone, without Yae. But Sae knew that Yae would come back for her. She knew that…

Again, the dream changed.

Itsuki was locked in his new prison, the Tsuchihara jailhouse where Mai had spoken to him through the small barred window. On the wall, he sketched a map of the village and marked four places with large Xs. Maybe someday this would happen to someone else and this could help them. Then, he unwound the cord from his obi to give himself a rope, looped it over the lattice above the small cell, and made himself a noose. Mai looked away when he hung himself, tears burning in her eyes.

Everything around Mai changed, transformed.

The red cord was wrapped around Sae’s waist, the ends of it that should have been attached to Yae were dragging on the ground beside her. On all sides, she was surrounded my Veiled Priests leading her to her death… without Yae, but Yae would come. She was certain Yae would make it in time. 

But she didn’t…

The Ceremony Master, her own father, put a rope around her neck and hung her. She was afraid. She wished they were Yae’s hands around her throat instead of the unforgiving rope. She struggled, but there was nothing to struggle against. The life was choked from her. Then, the Veiled Priests tossed her body into the Hellish Abyss. 

For a moment, it seemed as if the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual had succeeded. Then, the earth around them began to rumble and shake. The Ceremony Master was standing at the edge of the abyss, blinded by the veil over his face, but he suddenly tore it off to see what was happening.

Standing there, in the middle of the abyss where there was no ground, was his beautiful daughter, Sae. There was a hideous bruise from the rope around her neck and as she stood there, she began to laugh like she wanted nothing more than to kill everyone who had ever harmed her. Then, rearing up behind her, came the Kusabi—its body slashed to ribbons.

Then, the Repentance for the failed ritual wiped out the entire village.

The dream swirled, shifted, and changed.

Mai was looking at the crooked red torii gate. Standing just beneath it was the description SPR had originally received when this case had been brought to them. There was a young woman in a white kimono standing there, crying, whispering over and over, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…” It was Yae. 

Yae had wanted to come back for her sister, but the woods were dark and confusing at night. By the time she found her way back to the village, it was too late. Their father had already attempted to perform the Ritual without Yae and it had failed.

Beyond the torii gate, Mai could hear screams of the people of All God’s Village being massacred without mercy. A young woman was laughing, laughing insanely, and Mai realized now that it was Sae’s spirit returning from the dead to slaughter the villagers for what they had done to her. And from the center of the village, a horrible red-black darkness was spreading.

“The Repentance,” Mai whispered. “How horrible.”

Yae turned to face Mai, her beautiful dark eyes flooded with tears. “I couldn’t find her. I didn’t mean to leave her behind. I really didn’t! I was lost. I’m so sorry, Sae,” the young woman sobbed.

Mai loved people, even ghosts, and her heart broke for the young woman. “I know, Yae,” she whispered. “I know.”

“You know?” Yae whispered, clutching her hands to her chest.

Mai nodded.

“Thank god,” she whispered. 

Then, the young woman in the pure white kimono reached out and enfolded Mai tightly in her cold arms. Then, just as Gene had a while ago, it felt as if Yae had dissolved into Mai’s body. Mai shivered at the sensation and hugged herself tightly. Why did she feel so heavy and so cold? Probably her empathy for other people, like Naru always said.

“That’s what Sae’s waiting for… She’s waiting for Yae to come back to perform the Ritual with her.” Gene whispered and Mai turned to face him. “And now she can…”

“She’s waiting for that?” Mai murmured, glancing at the torii gate.

“That’s what we must do…” 

She wasn’t sure how long he had been there, but she was happy to see him. “What?” Mai asked.

“Naru and I will become one. We can be together… forever… I can be with him again.”

“Gene, why is this happening?” Mai asked him.

“Because… the Ritual must be completed. The two chosen children… will be carried into heaven on the wings of a butterfly. Then, the butterfly will protect this village,” he whispered and his glacial eyes were distant and sad. 

“You don’t understand, Gene,” Mai whispered and gently touched his arm. “You… you’re already dead.”

“I know,” he said and met her eyes. There was such pain in them. “I know I am, but I want to be with Naru. We’re twins. We promised that we would always be together…”

“You think if you perform the Ritual, you can be with him?” Mai asked.

Gene nodded.

She shook her head and opened her mouth to tell him otherwise, but then the dream changed one final time into nothing but pure darkness. It was as if the Hellish Abyss had swallowed them both. Then, she woke up and she was inside a bedroom. She immediately knew it was Itsuki’s room in the Tachibana house. She pressed her hands to her face, fighting back tears, but it was hopeless. 

Somewhere in the darkness, a child’s voice whispered. “Yae… give me back my brother…!”

Mia just let herself cry for all the pain and death in this place.

**…X…**

Shibuya Psychic Research’s team, sans Taniyama Mai, stood in front of the newly-revealed wooden ladder. The darkness down below was so deep that it couldn’t even be penetrated with a flashlight. Nervously, the group stood looking down into the underground passageway in silence. 

“I’ll go first,” Yasuhara offered, breaking the silence.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Naru began.

Yasuhara cut him off. “Don’t worry. If something happens, I’m certain I can run faster than any of you.”

Bou-san chuckled. “Just let him go, Naru-bou.”

Naru relented and handed Yasuhara the flashlight he was holding.

Yasuhara tucked the flashlight under his arm so it would illuminate the ladder as he went down and began the descent into the underground passage. “If you guys hear me screaming, you’ll come save me, right?” he asked as he was swallowed up by the darkness below. 

Bou-san grinned. “Of course, kid,” he said.

“Good,” the high school student said. “I feel better now.”

Then, there was silence save the sound of Yasuhara climbing down the wooden ladder. There was a muted thump at Yasuhara reached the ground and then speared the beam through the darkness. All he could say for certain was that he was underground and there had been several cave-ins. Across the small cavern, he could make out another ladder. He shouted up to the others, “It’s alright, but I see another ladder at the other end of the cavern. Should I check it out?”

Bou-san’s face appeared at the top, looking like it was floating in the blackness as the flashlight beam played on his face. “Take a look, but don’t enter where ever the ladder goes.”

“Well, this is the Earth Bridge, isn’t it?” Yasuhara called up. “Mai should be in the Tachibana house.”

He could hear the others talking upstairs, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. Then, he heard a clatter above him like someone was climbing down the ladder after him. He hoped it was one of his friends and not a ghost. Where would he run to if a ghost cornered him down here?

“Hold on, Yasuhara,” Bou-san called. “We’re all coming down.”

“Okay,” he said and leaned against the stone wall to wait. He kept imagining he saw someone crushed under the rubble that made up part of a cave-in. Several people probably had been killed in a cave-in here, he decided, what with all the earthquakes in the area.

Bou-san landed beside him. “Hey kid. Where’s the ladder?”

“Over there,” Yasuhara said and gestured with his flashlight.

“I’m going to take a quick look, just to make sure it opens,” Bou-san explained. “Help the girls as they climb down.”

“Can do,” Yasuhara said.

Ayako climbed down next and Yasuhara offered his hand to her as she neared the bottom rungs of the ladder. She took it gratefully and settled herself on the floor, brushing her hands together. Then, she called up to Madoka to come down next. “Ugh, I think I put my hand on a spider…”

Bou-san returned to them. “It opens fine and it looks like it opens into a storage room of some sorts,” he said. 

Ayako wrinkled her nose. “Did you see any sign of Mai?”

He shook his head.

Yasuhara offered Madoka his hand and helped her down the rest of the way. Masako climbed down next, the going made difficult by her kimono and her geta shoes. She made a mental note to herself that the next time she went on a case with SPR, she would wear practical Western clothing because her kimono was pretty ungainly. John climbed down behind her, slowly and carefully. Then, Lin and finally Naru. They decided that it would be best if Naru went last in case he passed out and fell so there would be plenty of people to try to catch him. But he made it down without incident. 

Then, the group climbed up the ladder on the other side of the cavern. John went up first, followed by Yasuhara and then Naru for the same reason as before. But, also as before, he made it without incident and glowered at them as if he knew exactly why they were making him climb now. Then the girls came up while Bou-san and Lin brought up the rear. As Bou-san had said, they found themselves standing in some type of storage room. Just like in the last house, the room was full of boxes and furniture draped with white sheets. They really were twin houses.

The storage room opened into a long winding hallway. 

The first room they came to belonged to a young man, according to Masako. She could sense his spirit there, his great love for his family and his little sister and his twin. Once the word twin escaped her mouth, they all knew what had happened to him—the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual.

Naru shuddered, looking paler. “Let’s keep moving,” he said and hurried from the room.

At the end of the hall was a small room with a stairway going up and another door at the other end. Bou-san went to peek out the door and found that the layout of countless tatami rooms was identical to the entrance hall of the Kiryu house. 

Suddenly, Masako lifted her head and looked up at the ceiling. “I can sense her,” the medium said. “I can sense Mai!”

“What? Where is she?” Bou-san demanded. 

“This way!” Masako said and quickly led the group on a winding path through the house, climbing the stairs and turning several corners almost in a frenzy. Then, they reached a small room with a large barred window that gave a view into the room from the hallway.

Inside the room, weeping, was Mai.

**X X X**

Alright! They found Mai! Yay! We are making progress!

Questions, comments, concerns?


	17. Leaving the Tachibana House

I’m glad everyone is enjoying this story. It’s almost over… Poo…

**Day Two, Endless Night**

“Mai!” Bou-san shouted and yanked the door open. He dashed to her side and gently cupped her face in his big hands, brushing her tears away with the pads of his thumbs. “Mai! Are you alright? Mai!” He stroked her short chestnut tresses back from her face. Her skin was cold, ghostly, even though she was still wearing Yasuhara’s flannel shirt.

Her coffee-colored eyes were red and swollen, her pale cheeks stained with tears, and she stared at him with her big wide-set eyes for a moment as if she didn’t recognize him. Then, softly, she whispered, “Bou-san…” as if waking from a long sleep. Then, she blinked and a single tear rolled down her cheek. “Bou-san! It’s you!” She glanced over his shoulder at the others. “You guys found me!” She flung her arms around Bou-san tightly and hugged him hard. 

Something hard was pressing into Bou-san’s chest.

“Mai, what is this?” he asked and pushed her back a little bit so he could look at her. Clutched against Mai’s skinny chest was a white diary bound in red thread. She had both arms wrapped around it, her fingers so tightly clenched that her knuckles were as white as the diary. 

“It’s Itsuki’s diary,” Mai whispered, a fresh wave of tears welling up in her eyes.

Naru came to crouch beside her. “Let me see, Mai.”

For a moment, she stared at him as if seeing him for the first time. “Naru…”

“Can I see it?” he asked, meeting her eyes carefully.

She nodded and Naru forcefully unclenched her fingers from the bound diary. “Ayako, she’s cold. You should check her out and give her something to eat, okay?” Naru suggested and took a step back to read the diary in the low light of a nearby lamp.

Madoka, Ayako, and Masako crowded around Mai and Bou-san, speaking to her in low voices and comforting her. John wanted to give Mai Bou-san’s fleece-lined jacket, but he was still feeling cold down to his very core and explained that to Ayako when she asked him for the jacket. Instead, Ayako demanded Naru’s black jacket from him since it was the only jacket left among them and wrapped the still-warm cloth around Mai’s narrow shoulders.

Naru opened the diary to the last few entries and began to read.

_“The time of the Ritual is fast approaching. Mutsuki is too weak to run away and there is no way I can carry him. He said he’d forgive me no matter what happens. He doesn’t want Yae and Sae to suffer either. He made me promise that if we failed, I would help them escape. Mutsuki will always remain here as a butterfly and I will remain here in the village too. I won’t leave with Yae and Sae after the Ritual like they asked me to.”_

_“If Mutsuki and I perform the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual, then Yae and Sae won’t need to do it. But… if our ritual fails, they will be the only ones left for the next sacrifice. Before that happens, I have to get Yae and Sae out of the village. I promised Mutsuki that I would if we failed because this horror has to stop. There has to be another way. We’ve killed so many people in this village—the outsiders and the twins… It’s endless…”_

_“I heard that Makabe Seijuro is here. The warm welcome he is getting only means that they are going to use him as a Kusabi for the ceremony. I can’t let him get caught up in this. I’ll tell Yae and Sae to give him the map that I have drawn and the key to the side exit of the Kurosawa house. We must get him out of here quickly.”_

_“We failed… I wonder if Mutsuki will ever be able to forgive me… I could not make him into a butterfly. I could not become one with him. It’s all my fault. Please, please forgive me…”_

_“I can’t let Yae and Sae suffer. They don’t deserve it. I found out that the old passageway under the Kureha Shrine has been sealed ever since some twins tried to escape through it long ago. The Ceremony Master said that they were killed by a cave-in during their escape, but I’m certain he killed them. Since then, the Ceremony Master sealed the Old Tree which enshrines The Remaining, like me…”_

_“Although the path is sealed, the passageway still leads out. It just has to be opened, the seal only has to be broken. The pinwheel crest keys that open the seals have been handed down through the four families. I was able to find the pinwheel for the Tsuchihara family in the graveyard and left it there so as not to arouse any suspicion. The other three pinwheel keys are hidden in the Kiryu, Osaka, and Tachibana houses within the family altars.”_

_“No one will expect me to attempt anything after the Ritual. At that time, it should be easy to take the crest keys. Helping Yae and Sae escape may well be the last task I ever perform. After going through the passage that is unlocked within the Old Tree and exists beneath the Kureha Shrine, one only has to run through the forest and remember to never look back. But… will Yae and Sae have the willpower necessary? I know that I don’t. I plan to die here so I can be with Mutsuki forever…”_

That was all that was written. Naru let the diary fall closed in his hands.

Mai was staring at him, her eyes wide and tragic. “He killed himself, Naru,” she whispered. “After he helped them to escape, they locked him in the jailhouse and he died there. How painful can it be to lose your twin? It must be so awful…”

Naru looked away from her, his throat tight.

Bou-san pulled her to her feet, hugging her close against his side. “Come on, everyone. Let’s get out of here.”

They stepped out of the room that used to be Tachibana Itsuki’s before he was imprisoned. Bou-san and Mai were leading the group, Naru and Lin behind them, Madoka and Ayako in the middle with Yasuhara, Masako, and John bringing up the rear. Immediately, from nowhere, there was the sound of a bell and a young girl in a crimson kimono hurled herself at Mai, shrieking.

“Give me back my brother!” she screamed, clutching at Mai’s legs and raking with her small nails.

Mai shoved uselessly at her and Bou-san began to shout his chant. 

But Masako yelled out, “Wait!” Quickly, she shoved her way through the group and grasped the young girl tightly by her narrow shoulders, pulling her off of Mai. “Stop, Chitose! You have already died… It’s alright just go into the light…”

“There is no light,” she howled. “I want my brother back!”

Masako tried to talk with her for a few more moments, but it was hopeless. The little girl was in a frenzied state, screaming and clawing. Hanging from her wrist was a small pair of bells that jingled with each movement. Finally, she tore away from Masako and fled down the hallway. 

“I hate you, Yae! It’s your fault they locked Itsuki up! Give me back my brother!” Chitose wailed, her voice and the sound of her bells echoing in the empty hallway.

“W-what was that?” Mai whispered. 

“Tachibana Chitose. She’s Itsuki’s little sister,” Masako explained to the other members of SPR. “She’s partially blind, that’s why she carries a bell, so her brother can find her when she’s lost. When the Repentance came, she hid inside the closet and saw everything from inside, but then she couldn’t get out and she died in that closet.”

“How terrible,” Mai whispered.

“She’s also very angry,” the medium continued. “She blames someone named Yae for Itsuki’s imprisonment. She believes it was Yae’s fault for running away that Itsuki was taken away from her. All she wants is to be with Itsuki again.”

“That’s so sad,” Madoka said softly.

“Is there any way we can lay her to rest?” John asked. “Maybe reunite her with Itsuki. He’s locked in the jailhouse, isn’t he?”

“I don’t know if it’s possible,” Masako said softly. “These people, everyone trapped in this village, are all reliving the night of their deaths endlessly. I’m not sure there will ever be rest for any of them. I don’t think there’s anything we can do…”

“Then let’s get out of here,” Naru said, his voice cutting through the silence. He told everyone what he had read in Itsuki’s diary about the four pinwheel crests and the escape route in the old tree. “If we can find these crests, we can get out of here.”

“Let’s do it,” Bou-san said. “I’m beyond ready to leave.”

Ignoring the jingle of Chitose’s bell as she hid somewhere in the Tachibana house, everyone quickly searched for the Tachibana’s family altar room. After they found it, John searched the small altar and produced a round marble crest the size of a five-hundred yen coin with red stones inlaid into in a pinwheel pattern. Then, they swiftly poured themselves outside of the house and stood gratefully breathing the fresh night air deeply. All around then, crimson butterflies danced, coming to rest on Naru and Mai before flitting away in separate directions.

“They want us to follow them,” Masako murmured. “They’re guiding us.”

“But aren’t they… the spirits of twins?” Mai asked.

Masako nodded. “But they don’t want anyone else to suffer the same fate they did. They want to help us.”

Naru glanced at the butterflies flitting off in three directions toward the Osaka and Kiryu houses and also the distant graveyard. The group couldn’t be everywhere at once and the butterflies might vanish if they searched for the crests one at a time. There was only one option. “We’ll have to split up,” Naru said.

“But—” Madoka protested. Every time they split up, something bad happened.

Naru cut her off. “We don’t have a choice, Madoka. Split up! Lin, Yasuhara, and Madoka, you three go to the cemetery to get the crest Itsuki buried. Ayako, Masako, and John go into the Kiryu house to get their crest. Bou-san, Mai, and I will go into the Osaka house. Then, everyone meet up at the big camphor tree. Alright? Everyone hurry and be careful.”

Lin was the only one who readily nodded. He understood what Naru meant, but no one else immediately jumped to split up. Lin grasped Madoka’s hand and pulled her away, hooked Yasuhara by his elbow, and led them both up Misono hill towards the cemetery. After Lin and the others were out of sight, John politely pulled Masako and Ayako towards the Kiryu house. Naru started walking towards the Osaka house, forcing Mai and Bou-san to scramble after him so he wouldn’t be alone.

Naru didn’t want to admit it, but his body felt heavy and he was struggling for breath. He shouldn’t have used his PK. There must have been another way to save Masako because his time was running out. His body was stressed to the maximum limits, as if he was carrying the weight of two people. 

Bou-san came up behind him, placing his large hand on Naru’s back. “Naru-bou, are you feeling alright?”

Naru tried to pull away. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure, Naru?” Mai asked, her voice strange. 

He glanced down at her and stopped dead in his tracks. Gene’s face stared back at him, dressed in black with his deep blue eyes and his dark hair. It was just like looking into a mirror. But Gene shouldn’t be there… Gene was dead at the bottom of a lake somewhere and Mai was right here. Naru reached out, his eyes wide, and cupped Mai’s face with both hands.

“Naru?” Mai whispered.

The illusion shattered, flying away into the night. Naru found himself holding Mai’s small pretty face in his hands, looking into her coffee-colored eyes, and he could feel Bou-san’s warm large hand on his back. He was abruptly reminded of his father and of Gene… of Gene’s death.

Sharply, Naru yanked away from both of them, tripped over a Twin Deities Statue that was just behind him, and went down on his knees in the dirt. Mai was at his side immediately, helping him back to his feet. Naru’s body felt cold and he was gasping for breath, trembling in her arms. 

“Are you alright?” Mai asked him.

He brushed her off, his fingers like ice.

“Bou-san, what’s wrong with him?” Mai whispered.

Ignoring Naru’s protests, Bou-san wrapped his arms under Naru’s armpits and dragged the young man to his feet. “He used his PK to save Masako when she was attacked in the Tachibana house by a suicidal ghost—she nearly fell to her death—and it’s probably taking a toll on his body now,” Bou-san said. “We need to hurry and get out of this place.”

“I’m fine,” Naru growled at them.

“Sure you are,” Bou-san said condescendingly as if agreeing with a small child, but didn’t let Naru go. He hitched him against his side and dragged him along, supporting him. “Mai, get the door of the Osaka house and we’ll grab the crest and go to the Old Tree where the passageway is. With any luck, we’ll all make it out of here alive.”

**X X X**

It might have been a little unclear, but the passage isn’t in the Old Tree. It’s beneath the Kureha Shrine. The mechanism to unseal the passage is within the Old Tree. Just to clear that up. Okay? Okay.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	18. A Second Attempt to Leave

Alright, a second attempt to leave. Who thinks they’re going to make it? I do!

**Day Two, Endless Night**

Fifteen minutes later, Shibuya Psychic Research’s team was gathered at the gnarled roots of the massive old camphor tree. Lin, Madoka, and Yasuhara were already there when everyone arrived since they had only been at the cemetery on the other side of the tree. Next to meet them were Bou-san, Naru, and Mai. Lin had forced Naru to sit down and take a breather, not liking the paleness in his young ward’s face. Mai was crouching beside him, looking like a pretty gargoyle in the moonlight. A few minutes later, John, Ayako, and Masako joined them. 

Everyone had successfully gathered their crests without incident.

With this, they could leave.

Masako felt horrible and guilty when she saw Naru’s face. He was pale, sweat standing out on his forehead, and he was breathing with exaggerated slowness and deepness as if struggling. If only she hadn’t been stupid enough to… No, it hadn’t really been her fault. That ghost had grabbed her so quickly that there was nothing she could have done to escape her suicidal free-fall.

Lin took the four crests from everyone and found a natural cavern within the roots of the camphor tree. The walls of the cave were lined with crimson pinwheels and Jizu statuettes. Against the far side of the cavernous space, there was a sort of mechanism built right into the ground. Sacred sutras and wards had been plastered all over it. Lin had to tear them all off before he could get to the mechanism beneath all the seals.

Behind Lin, Masako ducked in first so that she wouldn’t have to look at Naru’s pale sickened face. She gasped, the anguish and loss stabbing into her chest. “So much pain…” Masako whispered. “The Remaining twins enshrined here are so lonely. They’re in so much agony…”

Bou-san patted her on the back. “Try not to think about it,” he said gently. “How’s it going Lin?”

The Chinese man plugged the final crest into the mechanism built into the earth. There was a grinding sound and then a muted scream of rage. It was as if the villagers had suddenly realized that the twins they planned to perform the Ritual with were once again escaping. 

Bou-san grabbed Masako’s hand and pulled her from the cavern. Then, he helped Lin up. 

“Let’s hurry!” Bou-san said urgently. 

Lin nodded. He grabbed Naru and dragged the young man to his feet, supporting him even as he pridefully protested. Bou-san took the lead, guiding the group down the path until they came to the steep stone path going up that led to the Kureha Shrine. Ayako and John brought up the rear with everyone else packed into the middle. Mai’s heart was racing—she had a horrible feeling that something bad was going to happen, but she prayed it wasn’t so. She just wanted to get out of here. She didn’t want anyone else to die or lose someone they loved.

Lit from the outside by countless stone lanterns lining the stone pathway, Kureha Shrine was small and well-taken-care-of. The doors were painted with the crest of a crimson butterfly and the interior that they could see through the two small windows was pitch-black inside. 

Bou-san charged towards the doors, but then the entire population of villagers materialized between Bou-san and the doors. He lurched backwards, yelping in surprise, as one of the villagers leaped at him with a sickle. Even though the weapon didn’t touch him, a horrible gash appeared on his arm.

“Bou-san!” Lin shouted. “Look out! They can use kamaitachi! (1)”

“You think?” Bou-san snapped and then pressed his hands together. He began his counter chant, his voice loud enough to echo in the night.

Lin passed Naru to Yasuhara and Madoka since they had no way to combat the spirits. Then, the Chinese man went to Bou-san’s side, whistling and sending all his white shiki lashing through the villagers. Ayako and John hurried to join them, each using their respective chants. Mai stepped in front of Yasuhara, Madoka, and Naru. She wasn’t that strong, but if a spirit got past the others, she could stop it for at least a moment. Masako came to stand at Mai’s elbow, giving her a small smile, and beginning her own protective chant.

But the numbers of the villagers were overwhelming. 

It wasn’t long before the villager’s spirits had managed to push past Bou-san, Lin, Ayako, and John. Each of them were decorated with countless horrible gashes and cuts, bleeding freely. Ayako fell to her knees, blood pouring from her arm, and that was the moment they broke through. They poured over the others, tearing Naru and strangely Mai away from the small group. Mai screamed, but Naru was oddly silent.

“No!” Bou-san shouted. He pulled his tokkosho from the back of his jeans and hurled it towards them, praying it would make it and form a kekkai in time. “No!”

Suddenly, all the villagers vanished without a trace and then Bou-san’s protective tokkosho struck the ground, sticking deeply into the stone with a crack. Yasuhara, Masako, and Madoka were standing there, bewildered and shocked. Ayako moaned in pain and fear, still on her knees. Lin leaned on one of the stone lanterns, panting, his shiki evaporating in the air. John wiped blood from the side of his face, his hand wet with holy water and blood. Bou-san cursed loudly. 

Naru and Mai were gone, just gone, as if they had never even existed.

…

Mai had never been spirited away by a ghost before, but it was not a sensation she would ever forget. The press of the spirits’ bodies around her were so icy-cold it was like being plunged into a freezing lake, filling her lungs and her blood until she felt like she was dead as well. Then, there was rushing of the world around her as it passed through her phantasmal body. It was almost like pain, but not quite. Is this was Masako had felt when she had been spirited through the bloody labyrinth by Urado’s monstrous spirit? Then, with a whump, she was deposited roughly onto cold stone ground. 

There was another sound and she saw Naru’s body hit the ground beside her. He lay very still on his side there next to her, his skin glowing faintly in the darkness. A small trickle of blood had slipped from the corner of his lips. He looked dead.

“Naru!” she gasped and rolled him over onto his back. 

He groaned and his eyes fluttered open. “Mai?”

“Thank god!” she gasped out.

“Where…?”

Mai cradled Naru’s body close to her own and looked around. Her heart stopped beating in her chest, skipped and sputtered, and finally jolted back to life. She knew what this place was. She had seen it in her dreams. There was the stone altar where Itsuki had strangled his twin, the torii gate where the Veiled Priests had hung Sae, the vast deep pit of the Hellish Abyss… Fearful tears welled up in her eyes. 

The Hellish Abyss… 

The Crimson Sacrifice Ritual…

And Naru was a twin, even though Gene was dead…

She tightened her arms around Naru’s body and he dragged himself laboriously into a sitting position. His back was pressed against her chest and her hands were flat on his chest. Beneath his pale flesh, she could feel his uneven heartbeat. He licked his lips, tasted the blood, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Where are we?” he asked again.

“The Hellish Abyss,” she whispered. “We’re in the cavern of the Hellish Abyss.” 

“Help me up,” Naru said sharply.

Mai got to her feet, looking around them at the assembly of Veiled Priests. They were all just standing, watching, waiting, and it made Mai’s skin crawl. Naru gripped her hands and she managed to drag him to his feet. His fingers were so icy-cold that she shivered. Once he was on his feet, he leaned on her, looking at the darkness around them.

“This isn’t possible. All these people are already dead…” Naru breathed.

“It doesn’t seem to be stopping them from killing people,” Mai said. “We need to get out of here and get back to the others.”

Naru nodded, his arm draped over her shoulders for support. Mai took a few steps towards the red torii gates that nearly reached the ceiling of the low tunnel that led up and out of the cavern of the Hellish Abyss, but she stopped dead in her tracks. Coming down the tunnel’s stairs was a platoon of Veiled Priests, their staffs jingling as they walked. The sound was eerie, like the sepulchral tolling of a funeral bell. That feeling of suffocation returned to Mai’s throat. She stumbled back, bring Naru with him.

“What do we do?” Mai whispered to Naru desperately.

“We have to… perform the Ritual,” he whispered. “…Gene…”

“What?” she breathed. 

Naru’s glacial blue eyes were fixed on Mai’s face, a strange sad sort of smile on his face. “With this, we can finally be together forever.”

“I’m not Gene!” Mai shouted at him, her voice echoing against the walls of the cavern. Was he so close to death that he could see Gene’s spirit? “Naru, please, we have to get out of here!”

Then, Mai tripped over a stone and crashed down backwards. For one heart-stopping moment, she feared she would drag Naru down with her. But when she fell, he let go of her and towered above her fallen body, looking down on her with his wine-dark eyes. He smiled and it transformed his face. For a moment, he looked like Gene did, like he did in her dreams… 

“Let’s perform the Ritual,” Naru murmured, reaching for her.

Mai lurched to her feet, backing away from Naru. “Wait, stop, Naru!” The backs of her knees struck the stone altar in front of the gaping Hellish Abyss and she crashed down on it, skinning her elbows on the rough stone. The sensations of fear, death, pain, and terrible crushing loneliness bombarded her. It stole the breath from her lungs, leaving her gasping.

By the time she caught her breath, Naru was only inches away and far too close for her to escape him now. He knelt on the stone altar, straddling her body, and his icy-hands reached for her throat.

“No!” she screamed, reaching up in an attempt to fight him off. “Naru, stop! I’m not Gene! I’m Mai, remember? Stop it, please!”

…

Gathered in the small stone courtyard in front of the Kureha Shrine, the remaining members of SPR were trying to pull themselves and each other together. Ayako slapped bandages on the worst wounds quickly and dragged her exhausted body to its feet. How long had they been trapped here? It felt like years, lost in the endless darkness.

“Yasuhara and Madoka, you two should leave through the unlocked passageway in the Kureha Shrine now,” Lin said urgently.

“No!” Yasuhara protested. “They could be hurt and you might need us!”

“You’re all hurt,” Madoka added.

“You should leave now while you can! We don’t know what we’ll find when we go after them!” Lin shouted.

“We don’t have time to argue about it,” Bou-san snapped. “We need to go now! We have to find them!”

“Naru could already be dead,” Ayako murmured.

Masako looked sharply away. If only she hadn’t been in danger, then Naru wouldn’t be in this condition now. They might have all gotten out through the shrine safely. It was then that she saw it, though at first she wasn’t sure what she was seeing as her vision blurred with tears. 

A crimson butterfly flit its way over to the remaining SPR members like a small lantern in the darkness, glowing faintly. 

“Look,” Masako murmured. “It wants to help us…”

“What does?” Bou-san whirled, exasperated. Then, he saw it too.

“How do you know it wants to help us?” Lin snapped.

“It’s one of the Kiryu twins… Azami…”

Masako was focused on the butterfly, following it back down the stone steps that led to the shrine. With nothing else to do, the others followed after her as the crimson butterfly guided them through the eternal darkness. It brought them through the Kurosawa house to the twin corridors that led to the octagonal shrine with the two floor plates that Bou-san, Masako, John, and Yasuhara had been trying to open before. Now, with the butterfly’s guidance, Masako stepped on one plate and the pale dark-haired shape of a male twin somehow unlocked the other one. Both doors of the small shrine swung open.

Inside, the crest of a blood-colored butterfly had been painted on the wooden floor, and just behind it was a deep yawning tunnel going down, down, down… All around the shrine hung long bloodstained ropes and old blood was splattered all over the floor. Floating up through the tunnel was the sound of ceremonial singing, chanting, and the rhythmic bell-like sounds of the Veiled Priests’ staffs striking the stone ground.

“This is where they tortured Makabe Seijuro,” Masako whispered, “And made him into a Kusabi…”

The butterfly flit into the tunnel and vanished within the darkness.

**X X X**

(1) Kamaitachi is also known as whirlwind sickles. It’s when cuts appear on the body suddenly and without explanation although in this case, ghosts would be the explanation.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	19. The Crimson Sacrifice Ritual

**IMPORTANT NOTE!** Everyone keeps telling me that I have Naru and Gene’s roles reversed, but I haven’t been placing much emphasis on their twin order because I couldn’t find solid information anywhere on which of them was born first. 

Several people insist that Gene is the older twin, in which case, the Fatal Frame Universe would make him the younger twin. By All God’s Village beliefs, the first-born twin was considered the younger twin and the second-born the elder, believing that the elder twin graciously allowed the younger to be born first, as they were weaker and could not survive as long in the womb. So, Naru would still be the strangler.

A few tell me that Naru is the older, in which case I ignore the Fatal Frame Universe twin order quirk (which I haven’t mentioned in the story anyway because I find it just a little confusing and silly) and Naru is still the strangler. 

As I said before, I couldn’t find solid information on their twin order so I’ve been operating under the assumption that Gene is the younger, Naru is the older, and the Fatal Frame Universe’s twin order quirk has been left out completely because I don’t like it.

So, Gene is the sacrifice and Naru is the strangler.

It’s too late in the story to make any changes to which is which so I would appreciate it if everyone just roll with it. By all aforementioned logic, I have validated why they are in the positions they are for the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual. **IMPORTANT NOTE!**

  
 **Day Two, Endless Night**

Naru was looming over Mai, his hands closing around her throat. “Stop! I’m not Gene,” she screamed at him desperately. “Naru! It’s Mai! Stop it!” But he didn’t stop. His thumbs crossed her windpipe and pressed down, cutting off her air. She only had one choice. With her last breath of air, the words broken and garbled by the pressure on her throat, she shouted the Nine Words at Naru.

He was launched backwards from her as if shot from a cannon, his body sliding across the stone floor. 

Mai sat up sharply on the stone altar, one hand going to her bruised throat as she desperately sucked in some much-needed air. 

There was a feminine scream and a white mist streamed from Naru’s body. The young woman in the bloodstained white kimono was materializing beside Naru’s fallen black-clad body. It was Kurosawa Sae, the twin who had been sacrificed alone after her failed escape attempt with her sister and brought about the Repentance. She must have possessed him somehow or else had only been harbored inside his body. Once she finished coming out of his body, Naru lay heartbreakingly still and Mai suddenly saw Gene standing next to the altar just beside her. His face was strange as he laid eyes on Naru.

“Brother,” Gene whispered and went to Naru’s side.

As he walked, he passed right through Sae and she through him.

Mai scrambled to her feet, leaving the small stone altar empty behind her. She didn’t want anyone to die—not her, not Naru, not even Gene.

Sae approached Mai and that was when everything Mai thought was herself inverted and swirled throughout her body as if making space for something new. She looked down at herself to find her body no longer wearing her preferred Western attire, but a white kimono instead. There was a red cord tied around her waist, a cord that slithered across the ground as if it was alive and connected with the one dangling from Sae’s waist. 

“I am…” she whispered, looking into Sae’s face. 

Even though the young woman’s spirit was covered in blood, her body radiated the cold of death, and there was the mark of a rope around her throat, Mai felt no fear. She felt only guilt and loneliness, sadness, but also the love of being together since birth. Somehow, Yae—the young woman who had been crying at the torii gate that had brought them here—was inside Mai’s body.

“I’m sorry,” Mai’s mouth said in Yae’s voice. “I’m so sorry… In the forest, after we escaped… I got lost. I didn’t mean to leave you alone.”

“I know,” Sae whispered and reached out. The two girls held hands and even though Mai could feel Sae’s touch, it didn’t feel cold at all. Her skin felt warm, alive, pleasant. “But you came back for me. I knew you would so I kept waiting… and waiting.”

“And now, we can be together,” Yae whispered. “Forever…”

Sae led her twin to the altar and lay back on it, guiding Yae’s hands to her throat. “Kill me and we can be together forever,” she whispered.

Mai’s fingers closed over the mark of the rope on Sae’s pale throat and the heavy bruise immediately vanished. Left in its place was the mark of a crimson butterfly and when Mai lifted her hands, it fluttered from beneath her palms. From within her, everything swirled and moved again and Yae was suddenly standing next to Mai, reaching out with both hands towards the small insect. The crimson butterfly came to rest on her open palms, its wings fanning lightly.

Yae turned to face Mai and smiled. “Thank you,” she said and her voice was mingled with Sae’s.

The Veiled Priests stopped their banging, lifted their faces, and seemed to let out a sigh of relief as one. Then, they all vanished in the darkness.

Then, Yae stepped over the edge of the dark pit that was the Hellish Abyss, her dark eyes closing as she fell.

“No!” Mai shouted and rushed after her. All she saw was the whiteness of Yae’s kimono as it was swallowed up by the darkness. She took a step closer, planning to look into the abyss to see what had become of Yae, but Itsuki’s voice rang loudly through her head.

 _“Don’t look in there!”_

Mai closed her coffee-colored eyes and looked away. She turned her attention back to Naru and Gene. Naru was still lying on the ground, his body strewn like a discarded doll, and Gene was crouched beside him, leaning over his twin. Their white skin stood out brightly in the darkness and Mai saw that Gene’s cheeks were stained with shining tears. Behind Mai, crimson butterflies erupted from the Hellish Abyss, lighting up the dark cavern.

Naru’s shadow spread across the stone ground.

He wasn’t breathing.

…

Masako led the other members of SPR through the dark tunnel beneath the octagonal shrine, led on by the single crimson butterfly that had once been Kiryu Azami. By now, the ceremonial sounds they had been hearing had fallen silent. 

Something was happening… something bad…

They came to a vast cavern filled with candles and there were red torii gates across the cavern. In the center of the ring of candles knelt one young girl in a dark grey kimono with her long hair obscuring her face. The butterfly stopped there beside her and took the form of an identical girl. They were the Kiryu twins, Akane and Azami.

Bou-san immediately went to the red torii gates on the other side of the cavern, Ayako and Lin right on his heels. John and Masako hurried after them, John politely letting Masako go first. Just behind them, Madoka and Yasuhara flooded into the cavern of the Hellish Abyss just in time to witness a sight they would never forget and never see again.

…

Naru was lying on the stone floor, unmoving, not breathing, dead. 

Kneeling a few feet away was Mai, her coffee-colored eyes flooded with tears. 

Behind her was a fantastic brilliant dance of crimson butterflies pouring towards the ceiling. 

But most shocking of all was the spirit kneeling beside Naru, his face identical to the handsome young man’s.

Madoka’s eyes filled with tears, her hands going to her mouth. “Gene,” she whispered immediately.

Gene glanced at them, smiled beautifully, and then seemed to fall into his twin brother. The moment he did, Naru sucked in a breath of air and choked back to life. His wine-dark eyes fluttered open and a single tear ran from the corner of his blue eyes. He wiped it away but didn’t seem to know why it was there. Confused, he glanced at Mai and took in her face and the bruises on her throat. What had happened here?

Then, the ground beneath their feet rumbled and it became imperative that they get out of the cavern immediately. 

It was a blur what happened afterwards as Lin pulled Naru to his feet and Bou-san scooped up Mai in his arms. Yasuhara and John hustled the group back down the endless tunnel and they burst out into the octagonal shrine. Ayako threw open one of the twin doors and everyone raced out behind her, spilling into the everlasting night. They ran through the Kurosawa house, racing through All God’s Village in a desperate attempt to return to the Kureha Shrine and leave this place.

From the offering stone on Misono Hill, crimson butterflies were filling the sky like stars.

“This way!” Naru shouted suddenly and tore away from the group. 

The black-clad young man ran towards the butterflies and there was no choice but to follow him. They reached the crest of the hill, the butterflies dancing around them as one. Below, the streets of All God’s Village were being filled with the villagers, but they didn’t look like angry ghosts anymore. They looked… at peace. Then, they vanished and the village aged before their very eyes. On the other side of the torii gate, the path through the forest returned, a single Twin Deities Statuette appearing just beyond it. 

“Sae and Yae’s Ritual,” Mai whispered. Then, she glanced at Naru.

A single crimson butterfly had come to rest on his outstretched hand.

“Gene?” she whispered.

Naru glanced at her curiously. 

Then, the crimson butterfly flew away.

Naru began to reach for it, but lowered his hand.

In the east, the morning sun broke over the dark horizon of the forest and filled the night sky with sunlight. Birds were singing, the air smelled sweet with flowers, everything was so perfect and stunning it was like seeing the world for the very first time. It was the most beautiful sight any of them had ever seen.

 **X X X**

This chapter was a little hard to play out because Gene wanted Naru to perform the Ritual, but Sae and Yae also wanted to. Plus Mai had three separate people inside her body at one time and Naru had two as well. I think Fatal Frame had it a lot easier with two sets of female twins that lined up together perfectly. Oh well. I still really like the way it came out.  
Anyone who wants to tell me about Naru and Gene’s twin order, please see the note at the top of this chapter and let it go. Thank you. 

Well, this was the shortest chapter in the entire story, but not by much.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	20. Epilogue: The Bond

I lied. This chapter is a little bit shorter than the last one, but this is the final chapter. How sad! I really enjoyed writing this.

**June 3, Mid-Morning**

The Minakami Dam had been built within a week and now, the entire area where All God’s Village had once been was all underwater. In its place was a beautiful lake and no one looking at it would ever suspect that a whole village that had been massacred existed beneath the water. SPR had simply informed the mayor of Kaman that the young girl’s spirit who was often seen crying at the torii gate had been laid to rest peacefully. They didn’t tell him the entirety of what had happened.

Who would believe it anyway? 

Taniyama Mai had been there, had seen it with her own eyes, and the butterfly-like bruise from Naru’s hands on her throat had just finished fading from her pale skin. But everything that had happened seemed so… impossible, that she hardly believed it had really happened to them. It all seemed like a bizarre dream, maybe even a nightmare.

“Mai.”

Kind of like right now, Mai thought. 

She and Naru were at the lake that had taken the place of the lost village. Even stranger, Naru had asked her to come with him—not for work or any other reason. It was almost as if he just wanted her with him. (Masako had been so jealous that she hadn’t even spoken to Mai when she came into the office. So much for their friendship…)

“Yes, Naru?” Mai asked.

Shibuya Kazuya was sitting on the bench beside the still mirrored water. With the sunlight dappling his pale face, he looked even more handsome than usual. He even looked a little like… Gene. He didn’t even have any research materials with him and he looked so strange that Mai just stood there, staring at him.

“When you’re through staring,” he snapped and then patted the space on the bench beside him.

Embarrassed, Mai came to sit beside him. The bench was warm from the sunlight and she sighed blissfully after being in the cool of the shade. As she looked out over the water, she found it hard to believe that an entire village was buried beneath the beautiful water.

After what had happened in the cavern of the Hellish Abyss, the SPR team had explained to Naru what they thought had happened to the best of their abilities. As far as they could tell, his body had given out and he had died after he attempted to perform the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual with Mai (who had been inhabited by Gene’s spirit at the time which explained why he had even thought Mai was his twin), but somehow… Gene had saved Naru’s life, had brought him back. 

Also, Sae had been inside Naru’s body but was forced out when Mai used the Nine Words to save herself. Somehow, Yae had also been inside of Mai along with Gene. Kurosawa Yae and Sae managed to perform the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual and the spirits of the villagers were set free by the successful Ritual. Then, the crimson butterflies led them out of the village and the sun rose more beautifully than they had ever seen on the horizon. 

It was the way people who had just escaped death looked at life.

“Mai.” Naru’s voice jolted her from her thoughts again. 

“Y-yeah?” she whispered.

“Tell me something…”

“What?”

“Why are you here?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Now that you know about Gene and I, how we’re twins… Why are you still with me?”

She flushed. “I… I like you, Naru.”

He snorted. “Yeah right.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Think about it Mai,” he said coldly. “You have two boys with the same face, only one is a sweetheart and the other is… me!”

Mai was quite finished putting up with Naru’s crap. She punched him in the arm, hard.

“Ow! What the—?”

“You jerk!” Mai snapped. “I just told you I liked you and that’s what you say to me?!”

“I know you like Gene! Face it! No one likes me!”

Mai folded her arms over her chest. “Really now? What about Masako?”

Naru didn’t have anything to say to that. Masako was very aware that Naru was Naru and Gene was Gene and she still wanted Naru.

“Well?”

“Shut up,” he hissed between his teeth.

Mai leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek. His skin was so warm and vibrant and alive that it sent a shiver through her body. “You’re so stupid sometimes, Naru,” she said softly. “You can’t see the forest for the trees.” 

Naru looked at her, his glacial eyes soft and the color of ocean water. He didn’t say anything. Instead, he gently cupped her face in his warm hands and kissed her lips gently. Mai melted. This was everything she had ever wanted and more from him. She wrapped her arms around him and he cradled her close to his blessedly warm body. 

Mai sensed someone looking at her and let her eyes flutter open, still kissing Naru. Standing there on the surface of the lake was Gene, smiling benevolently like an angel. Then, he was gone and the lake was empty and shimmering like glass. She smiled, feeling as if they had been giving a blessing. Gene wanted her to be with Naru, to love his twin with all her heart, and Mai would. She definitely would until the day she died and became a ghost herself.

**X X X**

Ah, I really like the way this came out. It had nice creepy moments and some good stuff! So, drum roll please, we are finished!

Here we go.

Classic important author’s note. Please, read!

First, drop a REVIEW and let me know what you think! Are the characters way out of character? Think I tormented Naru and Mai too much? Are permanently disgusted and can no longer even watch Ghost Hunt thanks to me? Loved it? Hated it? Are scarred for life because of the spooky horror? Think there was way too much horror? (Flames will be used to roast marshmallows and weenies!) Think I need to do more editing before I post chapters? Post to slow? Chapters are too short? Too long? Yada, yada, yada…

Second, I own nothing except my original characters: like… no one. I do not own Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly’s plot. But I do own the creative mash-up idea. So there, now I can't be sued!

Third, there will be no sequel… at all, so don't ask!

FOURTH, please, check out my first ORIGINAL NOVEL! **The Breaking of Poisonwood by Paradise Avenger.** (Summary: People were dead. When Skye Davis bought me at a slave auction as a birthday present for his brother, I had no idea what my new life was going to be like, but I had never expected this. It all started when Venus de Luna was killed and I was to take her place, to become the new savior… Then, bad things happened and some people died. In the heart of the earth, we discovered the ancient being that Frank Davis had found and created and used to his advantage. The Poisonwood—)

FIFTH, I know I normally end my stories with a lemon, but it just didn’t fit with the way this one came out. If enough people bitch, whine, and complain, I might go back and add one in after this chapter, but I think it will be rather out of place.

Sixth, stay tuned for my next story.

Finally, thank you for making it this far! All the way to the end! Woot!

And so, I bid you adieu.

Questions, comments, concerns?


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